Singapore's 10-Cent Bottle Return Scheme: Full Guide to Refunds, Jobs, and How It Works.
Singapore's New 10-Cent Bottle and Can Recycling Machines: How They Work, Who Benefits, and How to Get Your Refund.
If you've bought a bottled drink in Singapore lately and noticed the price feels a touch higher than before, you're not imagining it. Singapore quietly rolled out one of its biggest recycling changes in years, and this one actually pays you back.
The first time I saw one of these machines standing outside my local supermarket, I honestly wasn't sure what to make of it. A giant metal box that eats your empty bottles and hands you money back? Sounded almost too simple. But once I understood how it works, it made a lot of sense — for the environment, and for our wallets.
Here's the full picture, from why it exists to exactly how to claim your refund.
What Is This Scheme, Exactly?
This is Singapore's Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS), branded publicly as Return Right. It made Singapore the first country in Southeast Asia to launch a nationwide deposit return scheme, and it officially started on 1 April 2026.
The idea is simple. When you buy a pre-packaged drink in an eligible plastic bottle or metal can — between 150ml and 3 litres — a 10-cent refundable deposit gets added to the price. This isn't a tax. It's a deposit, and it comes straight back to you the moment you return the empty container.
To put it in numbers:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Price of drink | S$1.50 |
| Refundable deposit | S$0.10 |
| Total you pay | S$1.60 |
| Refund after returning container | S$0.10 |
| Effective cost of the drink | S$1.50 |
Return the bottle, and you've paid nothing extra. Don't return it, and that ten cents stays with the scheme.
Why Did Singapore Introduce This?
Singapore's recycling numbers have never been great. Packaging waste makes up around a third of the country's domestic waste, and the overall recycling rate has stayed stubbornly low for years — much of it because recyclables get mixed with food waste and general rubbish in the blue bins, contaminating the whole batch.
Rather than keep hoping people sort their trash properly, the government decided to attach real money to the act of recycling. Suddenly, that empty can left on an MRT seat is worth picking up rather than ignoring.
The scheme is expected to cover more than a billion beverage containers a year, recovering upwards of 16,000 tonnes of material annually — which means less waste heading to incineration and a longer life for Semakau Landfill, Singapore's only landfill. The government's target is an 80% return rate by around the third year of operation, roughly 2028.
How the Machines Actually Work?
It's simpler than most government systems tend to be.
- You buy a drink carrying the small Deposit Mark — this confirms the extra 10 cents has been added.
- You drink it, empty it out completely, and keep the container rather than binning it.
- You take it to a nearby Return Right reverse vending machine (RVM).
- You insert the container without crushing it — the machine needs to scan the barcode to confirm it qualifies, and crushed containers or ones with leftover liquid may get rejected.
- Once accepted, your 10-cent refund is ready to claim digitally.
There's a six-month transition period to know about too. From 1 April to 30 September 2026, both marked and unmarked containers can appear on shelves side by side. If your bottle has no Deposit Mark, you won't be charged the extra 10 cents — but you also won't be able to return it here (it still goes in the normal blue recycling bin). From 1 October 2026, every regulated beverage container sold in Singapore must carry the mark.
What You Can (and Can't) Return
| Container | Refund eligible? |
|---|---|
| Eligible plastic water bottle with Deposit Mark | Yes |
| Eligible canned soft drink or juice with Deposit Mark | Yes |
| Bottle or can without the Deposit Mark | No |
| Glass beverage bottles | Not covered |
| Beverage cartons | Not covered |
| Crushed or flattened container | May be rejected — scanner can't read it |
| Container with leftover liquid | May be rejected |
Where to Find a Machine
Machines are placed in larger supermarkets, HDB void decks, town centres, and selected hawker centres. Around 90% of residents in HDB estates are said to be within a five-minute walk of a return point. Over 1,000 machines were live at launch, with plans to roughly double that to 2,000 within the first year. You can check live locations and machine capacity at returnright.sg.
How to Get Your Refund: Step-by-Step
- Keep your empty container. Don't crush it, and empty out any leftover liquid before you head out.
- Check for the Deposit Mark on the label to confirm it's eligible.
- Find your nearest machine via returnright.sg.
- Insert the container into the RVM and let it scan the barcode.
- Repeat for every container you're returning — there's no minimum quantity.
- Choose your refund method on the machine's screen once you're done.
- Claim your refund through one of the supported methods (see below).
Claiming via SimplyGo EZ-Link or Concession Card
Simply tap your EZ-Link, SimplyGo EZ-Link, or concession card (student or senior) on the card reader after your containers are accepted. The refund loads straight onto the card, and you can verify the transaction — it appears as "BCRS LTD" — through the SimplyGo app, or at ticketing kiosks for non-SimplyGo concession cards.
Claiming via DBS PayLah!
DBS partnered with BCRS Ltd. to let anyone claim refunds through PayLah! — even without a DBS or POSB bank account. Here's how:
- Open the DBS PayLah! app.
- Go to the "My QR" section and generate your personal QR code.
- At the Return Right machine, select DBS PayLah! as your refund method.
- Scan your QR code at the machine's reader.
- Your refund lands in your PayLah! wallet instantly, with a push notification and a record in your transaction history.
If a transaction fails, the machine will let you retry, or you can switch to a manual Print Refund Voucher, which you can redeem within 30 days by contacting Return Right Customer Care at 6035 5882 or hi@returnright.sg.
How Much Can You Actually Earn?
Ten cents doesn't sound like much on its own, but it adds up faster than you'd think if you're consistent about it.
| Containers returned | Refund |
|---|---|
| 1 | S$0.10 |
| 10 | S$1.00 |
| 50 | S$5.00 |
| 100 | S$10.00 |
| 500 | S$50.00 |
| 1,000 | S$100.00 |
A household returning 10 containers a week would earn roughly S$52 a year — not life-changing, but essentially free money for something you were going to throw away anyway. Just don't expect this to become a side income; it's designed to refund what you already paid, not generate profit.
The Advantages
You get your money back. Instead of losing the deposit, returning the container means the drink effectively costs the same as before.
Cleaner recycling. Because RVMs only accept eligible, uncontaminated containers, the material collected is far higher quality than what typically comes out of mixed blue bins.
Less litter. A financial incentive changes behaviour in a way awareness campaigns alone rarely manage — suddenly there's a reason to hold onto that empty can instead of leaving it on a bench.
A real push toward a circular economy. Materials get recovered and reused rather than incinerated, extending the life of Singapore's only landfill.
New jobs. More on this below — but this scheme created real employment, not just machines.
The Disadvantages
Prices rose by more than the refund. Producers pay a fee of 3.1 to 3.7 cents per container to fund the scheme, and early estimates suggested drink prices could rise 25 to 60 cents — while only 10 cents of that is refundable to you. That gap has been a genuine point of public frustration.
Extra effort required. You need to remember to keep containers clean, uncrushed, and carry them to a machine — a small hassle for a small reward.
Machines can be full or down for maintenance. Like any hardware, RVMs need servicing, and a full or broken machine means a wasted trip.
Confusion during the transition period. With marked and unmarked drinks on shelves at the same time until September 2026, it's easy to grab the wrong bottle without noticing.
Unredeemed deposits. Not everyone bothers returning every container, and how those unclaimed deposits are used has drawn some calls for clearer public reporting.
Job Opportunities This Scheme Created
This is the part people don't talk about enough — this scheme didn't just install machines, it built an entire logistics operation behind them.
TOMRA Collection, the global reverse vending company running machines across Central and North-Eastern Singapore, opened a new office and warehouse in Kallang specifically to support this rollout, working alongside local partner Chye Thiam Maintenance for site cleaning, servicing, and transport.
Real job categories that came out of this include:
- RVM technicians — installing, repairing, and servicing machines
- Site cleaners and facility staff — keeping return points functioning at supermarkets and void decks
- Collection drivers and logistics staff — moving containers from machines to sorting and recycling facilities
- Recycling plant operators — sorting and processing collected materials
- Customer support staff — helping the public with refund issues and eligibility questions
For anyone in logistics, warehousing, or facilities work — fields I know well myself — this scheme quietly opened up a fresh stream of local jobs that didn't exist a couple of years ago.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do I get for returning a container? 10 cents per eligible container, with no limit on how many you return.
Can I return any plastic bottle? No — only containers with the official Deposit Mark qualify.
Should I crush the bottle before returning it? No. The machine needs to scan an intact barcode, so keep it uncrushed.
Can I get my refund at the cashier? No — refunds are only issued through the RVM itself, via EZ-Link, concession card, or DBS PayLah!.
Can this become a full-time income? Not realistically. To earn S$100 you'd need to return 1,000 eligible containers — the scheme is built to refund your own deposits and encourage recycling, not to serve as a job on its own.
Final Thoughts
Whether you love it or find it a mild hassle, this scheme is here to stay — and it's already working. In just the first few months, Singapore's reverse vending machines collected 5.5 million containers through more than a million transactions, proof that a small financial nudge genuinely changes habits at scale.
Ten cents might feel small. But multiply it across every drink you buy in a year, and it starts to matter — for your wallet, and for the island we all share.
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