From serial collectors to reluctant recyclers: How Singapore’s beverage container return scheme is shifting habits

As the transition period for the Beverage Container Return Scheme draws to a close, how has the scheme changed consumer behaviour, and will this translate into better recycling habits in the long run?

Madam Tan Mui Sng, 79, a retiree, feeding a can into a reverse vending machine at the void deck of her housing block in Serangoon on Sep 17, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Ooi Boon Keong)

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SINGAPORE: Every few weeks, 79-year-old Tan Mui Sng heads to the reverse vending machine at the void deck of her Serangoon housing block with a trolley and bags of empty containers in tow.

The retiree returns dozens of containers each time, earning a few dollars in deposits — the result of hours spent scouring her neighbourhood for discarded drink cans and bottles.

While already a habitual collector before the nationwide Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS) was launched on Apr 1, the prospect of higher returns from reverse vending machines has spurred Mdm Tan to collect even more.

The scheme, which is still in a transition period until Thursday (Oct 1), may not have altered her desire to recycle discarded cans and bottles, but it has certainly made her weekly efforts more profitable.

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