New 'reverse' vending machine offers rewards for recycling
Small incentives could be a way to encourage Singaporeans to recycle more, and that is what F&N Foods hopes to do with its new green initiative.
In partnership with FairPrice, Frasers Centrepoint Malls and tech start-up Incon Green, F&N has installed a reverse vending machine outside Waterway Point's FairPrice Finest outlet in Punggol.
The machine, produced by Incon Green, can identify, sort and collect used cans and bottles. For every five cans or bottles, users will receive a 50-cent voucher. It can be used at Waterway Point's FairPrice Finest to redeem Ice Mountain or Oishi Kabusecha products.
BARCODE
Users should rinse their used cans and bottles, making sure the barcode is still intact. They simply need to place the items into the machine's entry point with barcode facing up. The machine will take in the items.
It can hold up to 800 items, which will be sent to nearby countries such as Malaysia for recycling.
At the launch yesterday, F&N general manager Jennifer See said the machines are also installed at Yew Tee Point and Bukit Merah Central's FairPrice outlets.
"We embarked on this initiative for Singaporeans to adopt an eco-conscious lifestyle," she said.
FairPrice deputy chief executive Tng Ah Yiam hopes the initiative will cater to the millennials' growing interest in recycling. As of 2016, approximately 60 per cent of Singapore's waste is recycled annually.
Incon Green's CEO Jack Lee said they are working to install more of such machines islandwide. - LOW LI PING
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