Traveller carries plastic bottle on 7-day trip to Australia, brings it back to S’pore to claim 10-cent refund
A traveller carried a plastic bottle throughout their seven-day trip from Singapore to Australia and back, in order to recycle it and claim a 10-cent refund under the Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS).
Xiaohongshu user @可以坐就别站 posted a video montage of the journey on June 1, showing the bottle at different locations over the course of the trip.
The video starts at Changi Airport as the traveller waits to board a Scoot flight bound for Melbourne, scheduled to depart at 2.30am on May 23.
“POV: You’re committed to getting your $0.10 back,” the on-screen caption reads.
The traveller is likely referring to the BCRS, which allows consumers to recycle pre-packaged beverages in plastic or metal bottles at any Return Right Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) for a 10-cent refund. Over 1,000 machines have been installed at selected supermarkets, HDB void decks, and hawker centres islandwide.
The scheme is currently in a six-month transition phase for producers to clear existing stocks of beverage products without the BCRS mark. It will be fully implemented from Oct 1.
Traveller brings plastic bottle on 7-day trip
The video cuts to a clip of the traveller holding the bottle, bearing the BCRS mark, in front of the camera at various landmarks in Melbourne.
These locations include:
- Melbourne Airport
- Queen Victoria Market
- Flinders Station
- National Gallery Victoria
- State Library Victoria
- Puffing Billy Railway
- Cafe Victoria
The journey continues in Sydney, where the bottle appears at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Opera House, Bondi Beach, Quodos Bank Arena, and Sydney Airport.
After returning to Singapore, the traveller makes their way to a RVM at around 4.30pm on June 1, receiving a 10 cents refund for recycling the bottle.
In the caption, the user wrote that the plastic bottle had “accompanied” them throughout the “entire trip”.
They said they had bought the bottle of water before setting off, but only realised that it could be recycled upon reaching the airport.
“10 cents is still money…” the user wrote. “Just throwing it away felt like a waste of money. I decided, no matter what, I would bring it from Singapore to Australia and back to Singapore!”
Stomp has reached out to the Xiaohongshu user for more information.
Explore more on these topics
See something interesting? Contribute your story to us.
