New 10-cent deposit system launches as shoppers struggle to spot eligible bottles

Singapore’s long-awaited beverage container return scheme is finally live, but its first day revealed a major problem: many consumers cannot yet find bottles and cans that actually qualify for refunds.

A New Recycling System Begins
From April 1, consumers in Singapore must pay a 10-cent deposit on bottled and canned drinks ranging from 150ml to 3 litres under the new beverage container return scheme. To get the money back, they must return eligible containers with the official “10c SG Return” deposit mark at one of more than 1,000 Return Right machines across the island. Refunds are made through ez-link cards or DBS PayLah! wallets, marking a major step in Singapore’s push to improve domestic recycling.

First-Day Problem Emerges Quickly
Despite the launch, checks by The Straits Times at nearly 20 supermarkets, food centres, and shops found no drink containers with the Singapore deposit mark on sale. Some imported drinks carried logos from similar overseas schemes, but these were not accepted by local machines. At one FairPrice outlet in Punggol Plaza, a man tried to return used Coca-Cola bottles, only for the machine to reject them because they lacked the required mark. The bottles were then thrown away, showing how confusion could undermine the scheme in its early stage.

Transition Period Means Delays
The shortage of eligible containers is not entirely unexpected. In January, the National Environment Agency said producers and importers would be given a six-month transition period from April to September 30 to clear old stock without the deposit mark. That means most refund-eligible containers are likely to appear more widely only toward August or later. Some drink sellers said suppliers had already told them marked products may only arrive closer to October, leaving a gap between policy rollout and public readiness.

Awareness Will Be Just as Important as Infrastructure
The scheme, first announced in 2020 and delayed twice, aims to raise Singapore’s recycling performance at a time when the country’s household recycling rate fell to a record low of 11 percent in 2024 and only 5 percent of plastic waste was recycled. The target is to recover 60 percent of bottles and cans within the first year and 80 percent within three years. To support the rollout, BCRS has started a six-month roadshow, deployed ambassadors to selected machines and supermarkets, and launched an online platform to help users find nearby machines and check their operating status.

Restaurants and Retailers Also Have a Role
The scheme will not depend only on vending machines. More than 500 food and beverage outlets have signed up as Return Right F&B outlets, meaning they will manage returns directly and may not charge the 10-cent deposit for dine-in beverage containers. That wider ecosystem could eventually make the program easier for the public to use, but the first-day experience suggests Singapore still has work to do in matching infrastructure, product availability, and public education.

Singapore’s bottle return scheme has started with clear ambition but also clear friction. For Singaporeans, the success of the program will depend not just on having machines in place, but on making sure eligible containers are widely available and easy to identify. For Indonesians watching regional sustainability efforts, the rollout shows that even well-planned recycling systems need strong public communication, retailer coordination, and a realistic transition period to work effectively at scale.

Sources: Straits Times (2026) , CNA (2026)

Keywords: Singapore Recycling Scheme, Reverse Vending Machines, NEA, BCRS, Bottle Deposit, Plastic Waste, Return Right