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

A woman from Singapore took to social media to express her disgust over the smell emanating from reverse vending machines as part of the Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS), which was introduced this year to promote recycling and reduce littering. The BCRS scheme offers a refund of 10 cents for every container returned. However, the woman noticed an extremely foul smell coming from the machines and claimed that it was almost as unpleasant as the HDB rubbish chute.

She also observed drain flies near the bottle deposit entrances, further emphasizing the unhygienic conditions. The Return Right website advises rinsing beverage containers before returning them to maintain the cleanliness of the recycling stream. However, the woman noticed that many people did not follow this advice and left liquid residue near the machines.

This issue has been echoed by many who commented on the post, with some even observing a damp patch in front of the machine, indicating that liquids had recently been discarded there. The problem has been attributed to a lack of civic consciousness among Singaporeans, as many do not rinse their bottles before returning them. Some commenters suggested that rinsing is an unnecessary waste of water resources, given that countries like Norway and Ireland discourage rinsing due to high bottle return rates.

Despite these concerns, the government has not announced any plans to address the issue, stating that there are still early days in the implementation of the scheme and expecting people to "exercise responsible behavior and return empty beverage containers."