Excited to find BCRS logo on drinks in JB? They're likely not eligible for return here due to different barcodes

Fancy bringing your drink bottles back from Johor Bahru to recycle for some extra cash at the Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS) machines in Singapore?

Turns out it's unlikely that you can, even if the bottles have the BCRS mark on them.

On Thursday (Oct 1), the SG News Warehouse Sale & Events Facebook page shared photos of 1.5-litre cola bottles in Johor Bahru with the BCRS logo on them.

"Will admin make some money from BCRS if buy from JB?" the post pondered. "RM2.60 (S$0.80) only, but have to bring back to Singapore to claim 10 cents unless have BCRS bin [here]."

Though it appeared to be a steal, netizens pointed out that the bottles would likely be ineligible to return in Singapore as they started with a 955 barcode, while those that the BCRS machines accept start with 888.

The labels on the bottles also state that they are products of Malaysia.

According to the website of GS1 Malaysia, the country's branch of the Global Standards Body (GS1) that issues barcodes on products, it is the only authorised GS1 barcode issuer in Malaysia, giving out barcodes that begin with 955.

Meanwhile, GS1 Singapore states on its website that it allocates barcodes beginning with the prefix 888.

On top of that, the BCRS website states in its guide for retailers that new barcodes were issued for bottles eligible for return on top of the BCRS deposit mark, meaning it is unlikely those sold elsewhere will qualify.

However, a user claimed on the Facebook post: "I've been returning 955 bar code cola bottles without any issue for two weeks at least. But I bought them from Shopee and the seller charged 10 cents (extra) per bottle."

In response to queries by Lianhe Zaobao, BCRS stated that it could not assess whether individual products qualify for refunds without verifying the specific barcode and product information.

But they emphasised that the refund system only applies to eligible beverages sold in Singapore.

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drimac@asiaone.com