Singapore is getting another 300 machines where you can return your empty drink bottles and cans and get your 10 cents back.
The additional Return Right machines will be deployed outside areas covered by the initial rollout, including institutes of higher learning, worker dormitories, industrial estates, recreational centres and tourist spots.
This comes as Singapore’s Beverage Container Return Scheme, or BCRS, enters its fifth month after starting on 1 April 2026.
There Are Already About 1,200 Machines in Singapore
When the scheme started on 1 April, 1,070 reverse vending machines were deployed across Singapore.
Another 130 have since been rolled out during the transition period, bringing the total to about 1,200 machines.
More than 90 per cent of HDB households are currently within a five-minute walk of one.
BCRS Ltd, the not-for-profit company operating the scheme, said on 6 August that it remains on track to progressively double the number of return points within the scheme’s first year.
So if you somehow have not encountered one yet, your chances of finding one are going up.
The next 300 machines will expand the network beyond the places covered by the initial rollout, particularly into locations where people work, study and visit.
More Than 5.5 Million Containers Have Already Been Returned
As of 5 August, more than 5.5 million beverage containers had been returned under the scheme through more than one million successful transactions.
Of the materials collected, 55 per cent were plastic while the remaining 45 per cent were metal.
The numbers are expected to rise as more drinks carrying the BCRS deposit mark enter the market.
This is because Singapore is still in a transition period until 30 September 2026.
During this period, you may still find two versions of seemingly identical drinks on supermarket shelves.
One might have the BCRS deposit mark, while the other does not.
You Only Get 10 Cents Back for Containers With the Deposit Mark
Under the scheme, eligible pre-packaged drinks sold in plastic or metal containers from 150ml to 3 litres come with a refundable 10-cent deposit.
That deposit is paid when you buy the drink.
Once you finish it, you can return the empty container bearing the BCRS deposit mark to a Return Right reverse vending machine to reclaim the 10 cents.
Think of it as a vending machine working backwards. Instead of putting money in and getting a drink, you put your empty drink in and get money back.
However, you cannot simply dig out every Coke can you have kept since 2012 and become rich.
Only eligible containers carrying the BCRS deposit mark qualify for a refund. The container also needs to be empty and should not be crushed or flattened because the machine needs to read its barcode.
Refunds can currently be received through SimplyGo EZ-Link cards or DBS PayLah!.
From 1 October 2026, the transition period ends and all regulated beverage containers supplied in Singapore must carry the deposit mark.
The Machines Are Also Being Improved
It is not just the number of machines that is changing.
BCRS Ltd said feedback during the first few months of the scheme has resulted in several changes to the machines.
The interface has been redesigned to make the “Tap for Refund” button more visible.
The amount of time users have to complete the refund process has also been extended, while audio cues have been made louder so users can more clearly tell when their transaction or card tap has been registered.
BCRS Ltd said it is also working to reduce avoidable machine errors, adjust how machines recognise and accept containers, and improve the refund process.
The operator has also been running demonstrations and public education programmes.
More than 400 roadshows at supermarkets are scheduled from August onwards, while Return Right ambassadors are progressively being deployed at high-traffic machines in HDB estates.
The Target Is Eventually an 80% Return Rate
The BCRS is not just about giving you an excuse to keep ten-cent coins metaphorically attached to your drink bottles.
The scheme is intended to recover plastic and metal containers as cleaner streams of recyclable material instead of having them incinerated or sent through the general waste system.
NEA has set a target for at least 60 per cent of regulated beverage containers to be returned during the first year of the scheme.
The target increases to 70 per cent in the second year and 80 per cent from the third year, which begins in 2029.
Singapore uses more than one billion beverage containers each year, according to NEA.
The agency estimates that the BCRS could recover more than 16,000 tonnes of material annually once implemented at scale.
So those additional 300 machines are only one part of a much bigger attempt to make returning your bottle almost as normal as buying it in the first place.
