The retiree returns dozens of containers each time, earning a few dollars in deposits — the result of hours spent scouring her neighbourhood for discarded drink cans and bottles....
"For this one, there's much more money," she said in Mandarin, adding that she used to earn S$0.50 (US$0.39) for every 1kg of containers she sold to the rag-and-bone man.
She has lost track of how often she has used the reverse vending machine, but estimated earning more than S$10 from returning containers.
Under the scheme, consumers have to pay a refundable 10-cent deposit on eligible beverage containers, comprising pre-packaged plastic or metal containers with volumes between 150ml and 3,000ml. CNA
Singaporeans now have a new destination to visit other than the church. There are many reverse vending machines being placed in housing estates for Singaporeans to visit regularly to deposit their plastic and metal containers, and be rewarded with 10c or 15c per container. Oops, locals and foreigners can also do the same. They will not only be doing a good deed to save the world, to green the world, but also be rewarded with a few dollars or a few cents, depending on how many containers they brought along.
Retirees like the one mentioned in the above quote would be very happy to do so, doing some good deeds and getting some pocket money, and also as a form of exercise. If 50% of the 6m residents do it once a week, you can imagine the traffic flow, 3m trips a week or 12m trips a month or 144m trips a year. Additional positive effect of these visits is that the retirees and those without an income could actually generate some income by working a bit harder scouring for discarded containers.
Who are the real people paying for this and for the machine, the staffing and system management, the consumers of drinks, beers and whatever that have recyclable containers of course. The whole system and movement of millions of people are all paid by the consumers of plastic bottles and metal containers. Please don't remind these consumers that they now have to pay more for their drinks because of this great scheme. For many, especially the millionaires, what is paying a few dollars more? For those who are living from pay check to pay check, sorry lah, just pay more visits to these machines to get your money back or absorb the higher cost.
Singapore being one of the richest country in the world, many would not be bothered to make such trips for a few cents or a few dollars. Small change. One thing will change, the lifestyle of Singaporeans and how they would allocate time for this ritual as part and parcel of life in the island. How long will this fad last? For the happy retirees, this will be a part of their lives, collecting metal containers and plastic bottles and to visit the shrines to earn some pocket money. It can be a happy daily ritual.
12 comments:
For the seniors & retiree they can treat this BCRS system as a form of exercise. Walau eh.. u collect these containers & get back monies and also exercise, can become healthier & rewarded with monies ...much more good lobang than 365 healthy app got to do workout like hell & rewarded with a minute sum. Dinner or later this scheme may be expanded to other kind of recycle materials & it's a just ah for the unemployed people here who knows..
The stats are out regarding sugar and salt intake by Singaporeans. One reason was that more people are now eating out, thus intake of salt is not falling like sugar. Is that the truth or just trying to push only the good news and avoid the bad.
I have my two cents worth looking at the issue. First, sugar is relatively more expensive than salt and when the word goes out about making drinks with less sugar, drink makers jumped with joy. Here was an opportunity to save on sugar, add more water, increase prices and nobody is the wiser. When everyone making drinks saw the benefit, it takes off like rocket. Now, it is not whether consumers still have a choice as most drinks have low sugar on its label. I wanted to buy packet drinks without the low sugar label as I always put ice cubes to keep it cool but could not find any. That was one big reason why sugar consumption has fallen over the years. One problem I personally encountered with low sugar content drinks was when putting ice cubes into drink containers diluting the drink that was to taste almost like plain water.
When the call went out about encouraging vendors to produce food with less salt, food outlets and hawkers are not listening. Customer's taste and profits are more important and all that talk about health issues goes out the ear. If one hawker uses less salt and another does not, who do you think is going to lose customers? Salt is cheap and taste matters more than just health talk. Consumers are not going to eat food finding them less savory, and that is likely to make them avoid such vendors. It is human nature. All the time we are bombarded by how tasty some places are, not how healthy the food they are selling. Money talks and bullshit walks.
Singapore has no beggars. Those collecting drink cans are just environmental caretakers. A great sounding title to be trotted out soon. Rather than having ti employ people to dispose of them this is a self-cleaning measure. Be kind to our environmental caretakers, not opposition MPs, lol.
Bravo to Grace Fool!
Now I have to fork out extra ten cents for the drinks container and asking me to hold the can to look for the return ten cent vending machine not knowing where it is
Also walking round to find this machine to get your ten cents back
Next every trip even now to neighbourhood stores have to pay ten and sometimes twenty just for the plastic bags to carry the items that you brought
Wow saves the environment that's a Honourable action
Whereas elsewhere the UAssA dropping their bombs and burning the coals and Indonesia wildfires with haze and they don't give a damn to it
Thr South Koreans and the UAssA Allies conducting their Militaries Exercises
Heavens shakes it's Head and held their Breath
What's a joke!
They want to show their green Western masters that they 've been doing their part for the green environment . . . .
Maybe there is going to be a salt tax making salt very expensive. Soon, food with less salt is also going to be more expensive, lol. Oops, when salt is expensive, less salt should mean less expensive food, right? I don't know. Now things work in mysterious ways like sugar in drinks.
That shows people are not using the machines just to collect back the 10 cents return, leaving retirees with a new income source and doing exercise going around.
Should extend the scheme to cardboard boxes. With the adoption of buying-online, cardboard boxes at recycling bins are choke up with such discarded boxes, piling up like Bukit Timah hill. The waste is staggering.
Can someone enlighten me on how much tax payer are paying for this whole wayang aka grace fu kpi accessment?
My assumption (correct me if wrong):
1.Drink manufacturers (DM) have to spend extra $$ to print 10cents label.
2. DM sell to vendors with extra 10cents markup
3. Vendors collect back 10cents from consumers.
4. DM return the $ collect from vendors minus it own extra cost to BCRS.
5. BCRS was setup with tax payer money to manage the whole process (manpowers/vending machine/software..etc)
6. The amount of $$ from DM collected will not be able to fully run BCRS, also not all drink can will be returned.
So ultimately BCRS is a money loosing setup, just to keep sillyporean busy looking for empty drink can. While Grace fu achieved her kpi with another pay increase. This is such an amazing scheme that a rich little country can come up with from it so called very talented Minister...hahaha
Small-time vendors and hawkers are unlike big drink manufacturers, able to make more money with less sugar drinks. How much more can such vendors and hawkers make using less salt? Negligible at the expense of losing customers. Logic tells me it is not going to work.
Wonder where those cardboard collectors have gone. It seems no one wants to collect them now. There is a new more profitable lobang in town. Cardboard boxes can be heavy for old folks earning 3 cents per kg.
People looking at you looking for vending matches to get back ten cents with long sleeves and tie on!
Hello cheapskates!
Hello Anon 11.00 am
These Evil Serpents just implemented their policies and sat back and relax and get their astronomical salaries
GST! The poor importers had yo prepare all sorts of documentation and transferred whatsoever GST payments to them and they just simply checked and monitored
All damn paper transactions done by the private sectors employees with low low pays
Businesses not so good not even bonus talked about the evil Serpents quarterly allowances
Next, about the LTA, the MRT projects
The Contractors are.the. ones with the blue prints and designs and all the backup of.their engineers to proceed with the construction
The LTA officers just with their White Helmets went round yo supervisor with their iron rice bowls
My spouse was with two or three MRT Main and.SubCon contractors for many projects as they were out after a contract and project.is finished
She told me.many LTA socalled engineers thought that the Contractors engineers were so well paid that they resigned and joined their contractor's.
After even just a few months many quitted and returned back.to LTA as they are unable to cope with their demands
Their engineering skills are nuts to the commercial. MRT builders
But anyway they still hooked the limelight and gets all the credits
So many more to comment of the Evil Serpents socalled hard works and actually easy lifes
No eyes see
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