A major effort to get beverage producers to fund the collection of waste packaging in Singapore for recycling has been pushed back another year to April 2026, following delays with getting the scheme operator up and running.
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But a roadblock to the initiative appears to have been cleared. The National Environment Agency (NEA) announced on Wednesday that it has issued a licence to the operator earlier this week.
The operator will be setting up a network of over 1,000 return points for consumers to return emptied plastic bottles and metal cans islandwide, the government office said in its latest update.
Singapore’s domestic recycling rate at 12 per cent last year – and 2022 – is its lowest in over a decade, even as the city state targets to hit a rate of 30 per cent by 2030. Most of the trash is incinerated in the city-state.
Under the beverage container return scheme, consumers will be charged S$0.10 (US$0.07) more for each drink they purchase, with the fee refunded if they return the emptied containers.
The nonprofit operator, Beverage Container Return Scheme Limited (BCRS Ltd), was formed at the end of June by a consortium of drinks producers Coca-ColaSingapore, F&N Foods and Pokka. It will collect, sort and recycle the beverage containers from all participating beverage producers, which will be levied fees to fund the work, under what is known as an “extended producer responsibility” principle.
Eco-Business has earlier reported on the scheme’s delay due to slow progress with the consortium. NEA said in its latest statement that the launch of the scheme was shifted back to 2026 at the request of the consortium, which wanted more preparation time after incorporating the scheme operator.
A transition period will also be in place from April till end-June 2026 for sellers to clear old containers ineligible for refunds.
The scheme has been pushed back multiple times in the past, from an initial launch date of 2022 to 2024, then 2025, before the latest launch date was announced.
There appears to be no major changes to how the scheme will work – eligible containers will range from 150 millilitres to 3 litres, with labels for identification. Reverse vending machines, which take in emptied bottles and cans before dispensing refunds, are expected to feature at return points. The scheme operator has been licensed till 2033. The aim is to achieve a return rate of 80 per cent from the third year running, up from 60 per cent in the first year and 70 per cent in the second.
Similar return schemes for beverage containers currently run in over 50 jurisdictions, and many have achieved over 80 per cent return rates.
Singapore is aiming to reduce the amount of incinerated rubbish sent to its only landfill, Pulau Semakau, by 30 per cent by 2030 to help it last beyond 2035.
A five-cent plastic bag charge was introduced at supermarkets last year, which has resulted in between 50 to 80 per cent drop in the use of disposable carriers in major retailers. Another extended producer responsibility scheme for electronic waste had started in 2021.
Ong Gin Keat, chair of local nonprofit Zero Waste SG and an executive at recycling firm Envcares, said the timeline up till April 2026 is still a “tight schedule” for the beverage container return scheme. The consortium of producers would not have had experience working together to collect, sort and recycle waste across the country, he said.
“It is inevitable that delays will happen,” Ong said, adding that it is “easier said than done” to get three large multinational beverage makers to undertake a function that would most likely result in yearly financial losses to them.
They should look to secure partnerships with recyclers to handle the deluge of waste, and study how existing groups already championing waste sorting and reducing contamination for their public messaging, he said.
Terese Teoh, president of advocacy group Singapore Youth for Climate Action, said it was “disappointing” to hear of another delay.
“One cannot help wondering whether the delay was due to industry lobbying – what does ‘operational and business considerations’ really mean?” Teoh said, referring to the wording NEA had used to explain why the consortium of drinks producers took more time than expected to submit their plans.
There should be more information on how the extra time will help with implementing the scheme, she added, noting that many technical details were already published in 2022. The setup of the collection operator is nonetheless a “critical step forward”, and civil society can help to keep parties to their promises to avoid further delays, she said.
“I hope our objectives in the [scheme] is not only to promote a stronger recycling culture among consumers, but most importantly, push our society to adopt reuse and refill systems where single-use plastics are consciously minimised to the best extent possible,” she added.
