Each Singapore household to receive free 'Bloobox' for recycling
Collection from vending machines islandwide will run from Sunday until 30 April
SINGAPORE — Every household in Singapore will be able to collect a free home recycling box at vending machines located islandwide from Sunday (19 March) until 30 April.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a media release on Friday (17 March) that the recycling box, called a "Bloobox", is foldable and can hold up to 5kg of paper, plastic, metal or glass recyclables, or e-waste. It can also be washed and reused.
Instructions will be printed on the Bloobox to help households identify what can and cannot be recycled. For example, styrofoam and food-stained items should not be recycled, nor should food or liquids be placed in the box.
The Bloobox also comes with a removable divider, so that households can create a separate compartment for small e-waste items.
When the Bloobox is full, recyclable waste materials should be placed in either a blue recycling bin or recycling chute. E-waste items such as light bulbs and batteries should be deposited into e-waste bins.
The Bloobox initiative is part of the national Recycle Right campaign which aims to help households recycle right and reduce the contamination rate in blue recycling bins, which currently stands at about 40 per cent.
It is also in line with Singapore’s ongoing efforts to make recycling convenient for households and raise residential awareness about the benefits of recycling.
“We must get everyone into the habit of recycling at home if we want to achieve our national target of a 70 per cent overall recycling rate by 2030," said Ram Bhaskar, NEA's deputy chief executive officer.
"We should also recycle right so that we do not contaminate the recyclables and unwittingly undermine our recycling efforts. Each of us has a part to play to reduce waste and, together, we can make a difference."
How to collect the Bloobox
From 9am this Sunday, the Bloobox can be collected from vending machines by scanning the barcode of a Singapore-issued identification document (NRIC, FIN card or SingPass Digital NRIC). Residents may also key in their NRIC or FIN number at the vending machines.
Vending machines have been deployed at more than 140 locations across Singapore in places such as Community Clubs, selected bus interchanges and other common spaces.
The public can visit gowhere.gov.sg/bloobox to check locations of the nearest vending machines and stock levels before collecting the Bloobox.
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