Singapore Plans to Introduce Deposit for All Metal Cans and Plastic Bottles

Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) announced the new beverage container return scheme that will apply a deposit of SGG0.1 to 0.2 (USD0.07 to 0.14) to all metal and plastic beverage containers for all pre-packed beverages, as reported by Strait Times on September 20. The small deposit can be refunded after consumers return their empty containers at designated beverage container return points in Singapore, mostly located at retail outlets and communities. More than 400 such return points will be established nationwide after the scheme is launched. The NEA is seeking public feedback about the proposed scheme, which is scheduled to be implemented by mid-2024, with an aim to raise the recycling rate of beverage containers in Singapore to 80%.

The container deposit scheme is the first phase of Singapore’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system, a program intended to give producers greater responsibility for ensuring their products are recycled. Under the scheme, containers gathered by the return points will be sold to waste companies, and revenue from this sale will be used to repay producers and retailers for the extra costs incurred. Therefore, the total refund for the beverage producers depends on how effective they have been in encouraging their customers to recycle containers. On the other hand, the massive amount of recyclables collected from the scheme could boost the demand for recycling facilities, thus improve Singapore’s recycling system. In 2021, only 6% of all plastic waste was recycled in Singapore, rising two percentage points from the year before.

Sources:

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/canned-and-bottled-drinks-to-come-with-a-10-20-cent-deposit-by-mid-2024-redeemable-when-recycled

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/nea-beverage-container-deposit-recycling-scheme-refund-can-plastic-bottle-2943576

https://mothership.sg/2022/09/beverage-container-return-scheme/