AmBank And DBKL Unveil Cash For Trash Recycling Machine

AmBank has announced a new partnership with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to encourage citizens to be more green by recycling their trash. The DBKL Recycling Reverse Vending Machine (RRVM) will reward you when you feed it with recyclable materials, providing a financial incentive for people to be more environmentally conscious.

The machine is quite simple in that it will reward you with cash when you deposit accepted materials, which include plastic bottles, drink boxes, and cans. The money is immediately transferred to your bank account or e-wallet via DuitNow, although neither DBKL nor AmBank has disclosed the rates paid for each item.

Operated by ORIE Engineering, there is currently only one DBKL RRVM, placed in the lobby of Menara DBKL 1, Jalan Raja Laut. However, the city council added that it has plans to put the machine in more high-footfall areas, although it did not elaborate on when or where this expansion would happen.

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Mahadi Bin Che Ngah said the city’s rapid development has led to an increase in waste generation, with around RM220 million being spent by DBKL for waste management alone. He added that along with climate change, uncontrolled waste dumping also affects environmental quality and has become one of the factors that contribute to flash floods.

The RRVM was already launched as a proof of concept back in June, but at the time there were no rewards given for users who used it to recycle. In addition, as of 1 December, single-use plastics are banned from DBKL premises as part of its efforts to eliminate the use of non-biodegradable material by 2030.

DBKL also has another initiative with a similar concept that launched in August called 1Komuniti 1Kitar Mula (1C1R) kiosks. Installed in several People’s Housing Projects (PPR), the kiosks reward residents with basic necessities such as cooking oil, flour, and sugar for recycling aluminium cans, paper, plastic, and used cooking oil.

(Source: AmBank)

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