Public can use DBS PayLah and ez-link to get 10-cent refund when recycling bottles, cans from April

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The recycling scheme requires residents to return their used drink containers at more than 1,000 reverse vending machines islandwide.

The recycling scheme requires residents to return their used drink containers at more than 1,000 reverse vending machines islandwide.

PHOTO: DBS

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SINGAPORE – After dropping off eligible cans and bottles for recycling from April 1, residents can receive 10-cent refunds via their DBS PayLah wallets.

This is the second digital refund option under

the Beverage Container Return Scheme,

apart from tapping ez-link cards, which was announced earlier.

The recycling scheme requires residents to return their used drink containers at more than 1,000 reverse vending machines islandwide.

Under the programme, customers will pay an additional 10 cents, which is a refundable deposit, for bottled and canned drinks ranging from 150ml to 3 litres. 

To use PayLah, members of the public must generate their personal QR code under “My QR” in the app and scan it at the machine, said DBS Bank in a statement on March 2.

PayLah is open to all users in Singapore, and members of the public can sign up for the app without a DBS or POSB bank account, it added.

Upon returning the bottles and cans, the refunds will be credited into residents’ PayLah wallets, with confirmation via a notification.

Reverse vending machines will be placed at supermarkets, HDB void decks and town centres, among other high-footfall areas.

There are currently

no plans to have the machines dispense 10-cent coins,

and the modes of refund will be digital, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Janil Puthucheary told Parliament in February.

Community ambassadors will be on the ground to help residents, especially seniors, retrieve their 10-cent deposits digitally.

Ms Chan Sow Han, head of payments and unsecured lending at DBS’ consumer banking group, said DBS PayLah is Singapore’s most widely adopted mobile wallet, with more than three million users.

The PayNow fund transfer platform, however, had 5.5 million bank accounts registered with it as at 2022.