Singapore resident complains BCRS return right machine has an ‘extremely foul’ smell

SINGAPORE: A woman took to social media with a complaint about the smell coming from a reverse vending machine under a programme introduced this year meant to encourage recycling and reduce littering, among other aims. Under the programme, Singaporeans receive a refund of 10 cents for every container they return.

After the Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS) was implemented, however, there have been a number of issues that Singaporeans have brought up.

In an Oct 8 (Thursday) post on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page, a woman wrote, “With the new recycling machine (BCRS) fully in effect, has anyone started to notice the extremely foul smell coming from the BCRS machines?”

She added that when she had brought a bottle to recycle that day, she almost vomited as she drew near to the reverse vending machine.

“The smell is the same or worse than our HDB rubbish chute. When I walk up to the BCRS, I was ‘touched’ by many drain flies at the bottle deposit entrance. This is so disgusting and unhygienic, to be honest!” the post author added.

Under the BCRS scheme, used bottles and cans need to be emptied before they are placed in the reverse vending machines. The Return Right website suggests rinsing beverage containers before they’re returned, as this keeps the recycling stream clean.

However, it appears that not everyone ensures that their beverage containers are fully empty before they’re placed in the machines, and there have been reports of remaining liquids being poured out near the machines.

In the photo that the woman posted on COMPLAINT SINGAPORE, the ground in front of the machine is visibly damp, looking like liquids were recently poured there.

What Singaporeans are saying

Many commenters on the post said they’ve had the same experiences.

“Agree! Very, very disgusting indeed! I saw a guy emptying the cans' contents onto the floor before putting them into the BCRS machine. So irresponsible. Another problem created!” one wrote.

“Definitely will attract pests,” noted another.

“The issue is people not washing the bottles first before returning them. This is a civic consciousness issue,” a commenter observed.

“Do you notice the patch on the floor in front of the machine in this picture? It will definitely attract lots of insects or bacteria,” another opined.

Others brought up the fact that the suggestion of rinsing beverage containers, while optional, would be a waste of water resources. In other countries where bottle return rates are high, such as Norway or Ireland, rinsing is discouraged for this reason.

However, it should be pointed out that these are early days and that some teething issues can be expected whenever a major change is implemented. There are a number of ways to make the beverage container return scheme more hygienic, such as setting up liquid drain stations, though the government, which expects people to “exercise responsible behaviour and return empty beverage containers,” said earlier this week that there are so far no plans to do so. /TISG

Read also: Singaporeans divided after Grace Fu says rummaging through public bins for BCRS containers is illegal