Total Capital and Annual Operating Costs of Beverage Container Return Scheme
Ministry of Sustainability and the EnvironmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the capital and operating costs of the Beverage Container Return Scheme and the cost-effectiveness of centralised AI-enabled waste sorting raised by Mr Jackson Lam. Minister Grace Fu Hai Yien stated that the scheme is currently in its transition period, with the immediate focus on ensuring a smooth rollout. She explained that the National Environment Agency will review the financials and effectiveness of scheme operator BCRS Ltd. after its first year of implementation before releasing more information. She highlighted that the deposit return model boosts clean recyclable yields through upstream segregation and reduces contamination from food and liquid residues compared to downstream sorting from blue bins. Lastly, she noted that BCRS Ltd. is a producer-led consortium operating largely on producer fees, which incentivises it to run efficiently alongside government oversight.
Transcript
82 Mr Jackson Lam asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether the Ministry can provide the total capital and annual operating costs of the Beverage Container Return Scheme, including the network of Return Right Reverse Vending Machines; and (b) whether the Ministry has assessed the comparative cost-effectiveness of centralised AI-enabled waste sorting against the current deposit return model.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: As the Return Right Beverage Container Return Scheme is currently in its transition period, our focus is on ensuring the smooth rollout of the scheme. The National Environment Agency (NEA) will review the financials and effectiveness of the scheme operator, BCRS Ltd., after the first year of implementation and will provide more information when ready.
The intent of setting up a deposit return scheme is to increase the yield of clean recyclables through upstream segregation. Similar deposit return schemes have been implemented in over 50 jurisdictions. These jurisdictions have seen return rates for beverage containers increase significantly over time. The deposit return scheme also helps to reduce contamination particularly from food and liquid residues, which has been a key challenge in the downstream sorting of recyclables collected from blue bins.
As a producer-led consortium operating largely on producer fees, BCRS Ltd. is incentivised to run the scheme efficiently. NEA will continue to work with BCRS Ltd. to ensure that the scheme is operated effectively.