Proposal for Beverage Container Return Points to be Located Within Five-minute Walk of Residential Estates

43 Ms Valerie Lee asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether there are plans to ensure that beverage container return points under the recycling scheme will be located within a five-minute walk of all residential estates, including private estates, particularly in high-density areas; and (b) whether petrol kiosks will be considered as additional locations for such return points.

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: At launch, the public can obtain a refund of their 10-cent deposits for eligible beverage containers at over 1,000 Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) across Singapore. RVMs will be located at larger supermarkets and locations which are publicly accessible and have high footfall, such as void decks of HDB blocks and some hawker centres, and 90% of residents in HDB housing estates will live within a five-minute walk to one of these return points.

The number of return points will be doubled to 2,000 within the first year of implementation. The additional 1,000 RVMs will be located based on return patterns and feedback from the community and other stakeholders. The scheme operator, BCRS Ltd., will take the Member's suggestion into consideration.