By Sia Ling Xin

FEED a vending machine an empty drink can or bottle and it will give you a lucky-draw coupon.

Three of these "reverse vending machines" will be featured at the three-day Clean and Green Singapore 2010 Carnival at HortPark which starts on Friday.

Those who contribute cans or bottles to the machines for recycling stand to win $30,000 worth of prizes, such as energy-efficient air-conditioners and refrigerators sponsored by Mitsubishi.

The machines have been brought in by Recycle Management Enterprise, a company set up a year ago by three friends who met while working in the banking and IT sectors.

One of them, Mr Rudy Fang, 40, said: "These machines have been in countries like the United States for more than 20 years, and we want to introduce them to Singapore to reinforce (the idea of) recycling as a way of life."

The carnival, organised by the National Environment Agency (NEA), aims to encourage more Singaporeans to recycle by showing them how it can be fun and rewarding.

Last year, Singapore's recycling rate was 56 per cent, up from 40 per cent in the year 2000. NEA aims to attain a 70 per cent recycling rate by 2030.

Carnival visitors can buy limited-edition items made from recycled materials, and play games and win prizes that include Philips appliances, SMRT taxi vouchers and $5,000 worth of Bosch water- and energy-efficient washing machines.

They can also visit the National Parks Board's exhibition of 10 trees common here. Some 5,000 calendars featuring
the trees will be given away at the exhibition.

Visitors can vote for their favourite tree, and win prizes such as iPods, book hampers, and shopping vouchers.

lingxin@sph.com.sg

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