Town Council says workers recycling bottles under BCRS in viral video were off-duty: 'They may participate like everyone'

Marine Parade-Braddell Town Council has clarified that two of its workers seen returning bottles and cans to a recycling machine did so after work, after a video of the incident sparked online discussion.

A video of the incident, shared on Thursday (Oct 29), shows two workers dressed in uniforms bearing the town council's name depositing the containers into a machine under the Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS) in exchange for a refund.

A large bag of beverage containers can also be seen beside them.

In a Facebook post on Monday (Nov 1), the town council said the containers returned by the workers were either from their own purchases or had been given to them by residents, adding that the workers were participating in the activity outside working hours.

"Our workers are not permitted to rummage through refuse or recycling bins to retrieve such items. We emphasised this requirement to all conservancy workers since the scheme began," it wrote.

The town council also said it had reminded workers to follow operational guidelines and advised them against wearing their work uniforms when participating in personal BCRS activities outside working hours.

This was to avoid any misunderstanding that they were carrying out the activity in their capacity as the town council's appointed workers.

"Our conservancy workers play an important role in keeping our neighbourhoods clean," it said.

"They are also members of our community, and we hope residents can understand that they may participate in the recycling scheme in their own time, just like everyone else."

Video draws mixed reactions online

The video, which has since garnered over 106,700 views as at Monday afternoon, has also drawn mixed reactions from netizens, with some questioning how the workers had obtained such a large quantity of bottles and cans, while others expressed support for them.

"(If people are not allowed) to take from rubbish bins, how did they get so many," commented one.

Another shared that they regularly gave their recyclables to cleaners, saying: "We have many bottles at home and I always give away to these workers."

Meanwhile, another netizen called for a review of the BCRS, questioning whether the scheme was achieving its intended purpose.

"BCRS needs a total review and revamp. Looking at trash collected, it is definitely not serving the purpose of cultivating a recycling habit," the netizen wrote.

xingying.koh@asiaone.com

在一段视频引发网络讨论后，马林大道-布拉德尔镇议会澄清，两名被拍到将瓶罐退回回收机的工作人员是在下班后进行的。

周四（10 月 29 日）分享的一段事件视频显示，两名身穿印有市议会名称的制服的工作人员将容器放入饮料容器回收计划 (BCRS) 的机器中，以换取退款。

旁边还可以看到一大袋饮料容器。

周一（11 月 1 日），镇议会在 Facebook 上发帖称，工人们归还的容器要么是他们自己购买的，要么是居民赠送的，并补充说，工人们是在工作时间之外参与这项活动的。

“我们的工作人员不允许翻找垃圾桶或回收箱来获取此类物品。自该计划实施以来，我们一直向所有环卫工人强调这一要求。”声明中写道。

镇议会还表示，已提醒员工遵守操作指南，并建议他们在工作时间之外参加个人 BCRS 活动时不要穿着工作服。

这是为了避免任何误解，即他们是以镇议会委派工作人员的身份开展这项活动。

“我们的环卫工人在保持社区清洁方面发挥着重要作用，”声明中写道。

“他们也是我们社区的成员，我们希望居民们能够理解，他们可以像其他人一样，在自己方便的时候参与回收计划。”

视频在网上引发褒贬不一的反应。

截至周一下午，该视频的观看次数已超过 106,700 次，也引起了网友们的不同反应，一些人质疑工人们是如何获得如此大量的瓶罐的，而另一些人则表示支持他们。

“（如果人们不允许）从垃圾桶里拿东西，他们是怎么得到这么多的？”一位网友评论道。

另一位女士分享说，她经常把可回收物送给清洁工，她说：“我们家有很多瓶子，我总是把它们送给这些工人。”

与此同时，另一位网友呼吁对BCRS进行审查，质疑该计划是否达到了预期目的。

“BCRS需要全面审查和改革。看看收集的垃圾，它显然没有起到培养回收习惯的作用，”这位网友写道。

邢莹.koh@asiaone.com