Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on BCRS

Question:

Ms Mariam Jaafar: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is the amount of deposits collected under the Beverage Container Return Scheme from beverage producers and retailers since the commencement of the Scheme; (b) what is the amount refunded to consumers who returned containers over this period; and (c) how any surplus is accounted for and whether it is retained by BCRS Ltd, reinvested into scheme operations, or returned to Government.

Answer:

I thank Members for their continued interest in the Return Right Beverage Container Return Scheme.

While the Scheme remains in its transition phase until 30 September 2026, we have seen encouraging progress in the first three months. To date, the Scheme has handled over 1 million successful transactions, with 5.5 million beverage containers returned. We expect this number to grow as more BCRS-labelled products enter the market.

Most transactions and returns at Reverse Vending Machines, or RVMs, have been successful. For the handful of issues that occurred at the RVMs, the scheme operator BCRS Ltd. worked closely with the RVM operators to respond quickly to resolve them. 

On scheme finances, BCRS Ltd. is a not-for-profit company funded through the producer fees as well as revenue from the sale of recyclables collected. Deposits which have been paid for by consumers but are ultimately not redeemed may be utilised by BCRS Ltd. to cover the costs of implementing the scheme. This is a common model adopted in other jurisdictions with similar deposit refund schemes. BCRS Ltd. is required to submit an annual report to the National Environment Agency (NEA), which includes an account of its finances, within 3 months after the end of each compliance year.

The consumer pricing of beverages is a commercial decision that is influenced by multiple factors, including fuel and logistics costs, consumer demand patterns as well as producer or retailer marketing strategies. Market players who raise the prices of their beverages will face direct competition with other industry players given the wide variety of beverage choices. Nevertheless, members of the public who notice improper practices among retailers may alert NEA.

On the network coverage of return points, all 1,070 RVMs that were planned for the initial roll-out have been deployed and are operational, allowing over 90% of HDB residents to be within a 5-minute walk of an RVM, in addition to machines in the bigger supermarkets. We have progressively deployed more RVMs since launch, and are on track to increase the number of return points to around 2,000 within the first year of implementation. All hawker centres will either have an RVM on-site or a machine located close by. Many coffeeshops are also located within HDB estates and would have convenient access to an RVM.

We thank all members of the public for their feedback, support and patience in adapting to this new mode of clean stream recycling as we continue to refine the Scheme. We encourage everyone to participate actively, by being mindful of the beverage containers you consume, and returning empty beverage containers at designated return points.