NEA refutes claims of misappropriation & corruption over Beverage Container Return Scheme refunds

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has clarified the number of refunds recorded since the start of the Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS) after previously provided figures were apparently misinterpreted.

On Aug. 5, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Janil Puthucheary shared about the progress of the recycling scheme in response to a Parliamentary question.

"To date, the scheme has handled over one million successful transactions, with 5.5 million beverage containers returned," he said.

Under the BCRS, which launched in April, customers pay an additional 10 cents for each bottled or canned drink bearing the scheme's logo.

They can get the deposit back when they return the bottle or can to any Return Right machine installed across the country.

Incorrect interpretation

In a Facebook post on Aug. 15, NEA addressed online comments that emerged over Puthucheary's statement.

Some of these comments understood it to mean that 5.5 million containers were returned, but only the deposits of one million containers were refunded.

Such an interpretation is incorrect, NEA said.

The agency explained that consumers can return and get refunds for multiple containers in a single transaction.

Puthucheary's statement means that consumers have used Return Right machines over one million times to return a total of 5.5 million beverage containers.

Each transaction thus involved the return of 5.5 containers on average.

"With each container carrying a 10-cent deposit, around S$550,000 has been refunded," NEA said.

It underscored that "any accusations of misappropriation or corruption are therefore misplaced".

In his Aug. 5 Parliamentary statement, Puthucheary said that most transactions and returns at the Return Right machines have been successful.

He noted that a "handful of issues" have occurred, but said that the scheme operator BCRS Ltd. and the machine operators have resolved them quickly.