Kopitiam partners grassroots organisations to expand
"tray return" programme
By Sharon See | Posted: 11
November 2012 2033 hrs
SINGAPORE: The "tray return" programme is set to
expand with the Jurong and Yuhua constituencies now partnering
Kopitiam food court to encourage Singaporeans to return their
trays.
The food court at JCube in Jurong East now has four tray collection
points and it is the first such tie-up between a grassroots
organisation and a food court operator.
Kopitiam said it has introduced tray return stations at several
other food courts over the last six months but response has been
"lukewarm".
It hopes this tie up with Jurong GRC and Yuhua SMC grassroots
organisations will allow them to reach out to more people.
Kopitiam's corporate communications manager, Goh Wee Ling, said:
"Tapping on the Jurong GRC's resources, we find that we are able to
leverage on that to create more awareness of the tray return
program. Publicity wise, grassroots are able to reach out to
residents easier than us. They have an grassroots office in every
location and could help us persist in that sense."
It hopes the visibility of the tray return stations and ease of use
can encourage more customers to use them.
Goh said: "It's not so much about saving manpower, but more of
working effectively, more effective resources. Given the size of
this outlet and customer turnover being so high, it's nearly
impossible to say 'okay, today we are going to do away with one
cleaner', but it's more about tapping on what we have right now and
to maximise the effectiveness and clean faster."
MP for Jurong GRC, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, said: "Let's try to do
it by way of encouraging and by way of example. I think once a few
people start, more will follow. Kopitiam is taking the initiative
here and it intends to do so at its other outlets as well. I hope
that can be sustained, so you don't need incentives for everything.
So let's try our best. We're basically decent folks, Singaporeans,
so I'm sure we can do much better."
- CNA/ck
