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Over 90% of HDB homes to be within 5-minute walk of a beverage container return machine from April

Members of the public can find the nearest Return Right machine via a new website
Over 90% of HDB homes to be within 5-minute walk of a beverage container return machine from April
Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Janil Puthucheary trying out a Return Right machine in Punggol.
PHOTO: AsiaOne/Ong Chin Wee

Some 1,070 Return Right machines will be deployed when the beverage container return scheme (BCRS) commences on April 1, with most Singaporeans having no difficulty finding one. 

More than 90 per cent of Housing and Development Board (HDB) households will have a Right Return machine within a five-minute walk from home. 

This initial deployment of machines will cover more than 430 supermarkets and retail outlets, over 610 town council-managed areas in HDB heartlands, and 17 high footfall hawker centres across Singapore. 

In the coming months, a further 160 locations - such as institutes of higher learning and 36 industrial areas with high football - will also have such machines. 

The deployment will eventually be extended to large migrant worker dormitories and all recreation centres. 

Members of the public may return their empty containers at any of the 1,070 machines. Refunds can be digitally received via DBS PayLah!, SimplyGo or ez-link.The 10-cent Deposit Mark label.

Ahead of its commencement, BCRS on Wednesday (March 18), launched a new website for members of the public to find their nearest Return Right machine. They can also find information on the upcoming deployment locations. 

People can also use the website to provide feedback and suggestions. 

In a joint media statement on Wednesday, BCRS and the National Environment Agency (NEA) said such "valuable inputs" will allow the scheme's operator to determine optimal placement for new return points in future. 

Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Dr Janil Puthucheary added: "We want to work with the feedback that we are receiving, but also suggestions from the consumers, retailers, producers — about where we might further deploy machines. 

"We hope to have about 2,000 Return Right points across Singapore over the first year of the scheme."

Consistent consumer experience 

Three return point network operators have been appointed to supply and manage the entire network of machines across Singapore.

Apart from end-to-end deployment and operations at supermarkets and community locations, they are also responsible for carrying out daily cleaning and preventive maintenance on the machines.

BCRS and NEA said that while the three operators may deploy different machines, the consumer experience will "remain consistent across Singapore".

The user interface for the machines will also be aligned, and in all four official languages — English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. 

Dr Puthucheary also assured customers of food and beverage (F&B) establishments that "nothing changes" for them.

He explained that under the Return Right F&B Scheme (RRFS), establishments will not pass on the 10-cent deposit to dine-in customers as they are responsible for collecting back and returning the containers.

Participating establishments can be identified by a RRFS label at their premises.

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editor@asiaone.com 

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