In a supplementary question, Member of Parliament (MP) Jamus Lim (WP-Sengkang) asked if Mr Baey could share the total cost of the programme and the threshold to regard the programme as cost-effective.
Mr Baey replied that he did not have the cost of the campaign.
“As mentioned in my reply, we estimated the number of Blooboxes required because we didn’t produce or procure Blooboxes to cover all households in Singapore because that would not be realistic.
“And we know that not every household required it and so we were quite close to our estimate, 93 per cent were collected and the remaining will not be put to waste because it’ll be used in our efforts to promote recycling.”
MP Yip Hon Weng (PAP-Yio Chu Kang) also asked if areas in Singapore which have a higher percentage of boxes collected have a higher recyclable collection rate, and how those who still wanted a Bloobox could collect one past the distribution date.
Mr Baey responded that the recyclables collection data is done on an annual basis and that the ministry needed to check if there was specific data for estates and neighbourhoods pertaining to Bloobox collection and recycling rates.
Members of the public who have yet to collect a Bloobox can do so at various recycling initiatives by NEA and its partners, he added.