REVERSE VENDING MACHINES

REVERSE VENDING MACHINES

Dear Mr. President: Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs), an old technology in many countries, has finally arrived in the Philippines. Leading the way in its implementation is Mandaluyong City, that has already purchased a few units for a test run. That is the good news. The bad news is, the cost of the machines is too high, such that the business of installing it requires some “creative financing” to make it viable. Otherwise, the return on investment (ROI) will take too long to achieve, an obstacle that might tend to discourage investors.

According to a manufacturer’s representative from China that I talked to, the solution to the problem is to have a local government or a private company sponsor a redemption system that could also be a rewards system. I surmised that what she meant by that is that the sponsor must put up the working capital so that the RVM could “bring out” the coins or give the electronic credits every time that that someone inserts a can, carton or bottle into the machine. That is the reason why it is called “reverse vending”, because it gives money to the user, instead of the user putting money in.

According to that representative, the sponsor should be able to recover their investment one way or the other. She said that one way to recover costs is to sell the can, cartons or bottles, considering that these would have some economic value. She said however that that is not enough to recover the startup costs, therefore there is a need for other sources such as advertising or goodwill coming from corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. She explained that advertising is a doable option, because they can put display screens in front of the screens that could be used to show promotional videos.

I also surmised from her Mr. President that since the RVM could read either bar codes or Quick Response (QR) codes, the cash amounts that are due to the user could easily be credited to his or her load wallet or to his or her ATM card. The cash credits could be the only rewards, but to add more incentives to the users, the operators or sponsors of the RVMs could also include promo offers to include prizes, just like winning raffle or sweepstakes contests.

I would tend to believe Mr. President that if our enforcement of recycling laws would become stricter, or if our people would become more diligent in voluntary recycling, we would not even need expensive machines such as these RVMs. Considering how massive our garbage collection problem is; however, I think Mr. President that it will do no harm if we try all possible ways to solve the problem.

On that note Sir, perhaps you could instruct the DENR to revisit our existing recycling programs? It seems that very few households are recycling in their own homes. Perhaps it would be best to reward people for their recycling efforts? Just like in the old days when households could sell recyclable newspapers and bottles to street vendors? In addition to the DENR, perhaps you could also instruct the DILG to help? Or the DTI for the commercial side? IKE SENERES/10-16-2024