Beer bottles pile up in recycling bins outside S’pore coffeeshops, recycling company allegedly facing issues

Thousands of used beer bottles pile up in recycling bins at Singapore coffeeshops, management concerned

Piles of empty beer bottles have been taking over recycling bins outside several coffeeshops in Singapore, leaving management scrambling for solutions.

At Block 134 Jurong Gateway Road, for instance, ten bins were stuffed to the brim with used bottles, with black trash bags full of even more stacked beside them.

Over 4,000 empty beer bottles pile up outside Jurong coffeeshop

The coffeeshop’s manager, Ms Situ (transliterated), told Shin Min Daily News that the bins and bags held at least 4,000 used bottles.

She added that the same problem is plaguing all 11 outlets under her care, amounting to tens of thousands of bottles piling up islandwide.

She complained that the piles of rubbish take up space, create a foul smell, and attract pests.

According to her, the recycling company employees had reduced their visits from three times a week to once a week starting in July.

Then, two weeks ago, visits stopped entirely, and she could no longer contact the company.

The manager of the Bistro 8 in Jalan Besar faced the same issue, adding that five or six of his coffeeshops had been affected.

Similarly, the coffeeshop at Block 1015 Geylang East Avenue 3 had 12 recycling bins and dozens of garbage bags packed full of beer bottles.

An employee claimed that at least 2,000 bottles were currently piling up, with the last collection being on 15 Aug.

Recycling company encountering operational challenges

Shin Min Daily News spoke to Mr Huang (transliterated), a local beer supplier. He alleged that the recycling company was facing operational difficulties.

The company plans to purportedly hire an additional employee and get another recycling truck in September, which Mr Huang hopes will solve the issue.

The problem was made more urgent by the authorities giving warnings to coffeeshops over the increasing garbage, forcing some to dispose of the bottles through other means.

Currently, Ms Situ has been trying to find new recyclers to deal with the ever-increasing mountain of bottles. However, they faced high prices, including S$900 for a large recycling truck.

She also stated that the problem mostly affected the more niche beer brands, which the recycling company handled.

Large beer companies allegedly handled the disposal of their used bottles during each delivery, resulting in the issue not affecting all of Singapore’s coffeeshops.

Also read: 50 volunteers remove 37,000kg of rubbish from elderly man’s ‘trash house’ in M’sia

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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News and Shin Min Daily News.