Singapore is set to implement a minimum 5-cent charge on all disposable carrier bags from large supermarkets from Jul 3. Will it change a nation’s habit of using such bags?
NEA explained the choice of a bag charge over a bring-your-own-bag rebate by referring to a 2015 study in the US, which “found a large change in behaviour with a 5-cent disposable bag charge but almost no impact with a 5-cent bonus for reusable bag use”.
In 2017, the rebate saved about 11.5 million bags across 140 stores. FairPrice ended the trial in 2018, saying that progress had “plateaued out”. When the bag charge takes effect, supermarket operators must report data to NEA and publish information on the number of bags issued, the proceeds collected and how they are used.Supermarkets say they won't charge more than 5 cents a bag; proceeds to go to social, environmental causesCritics of the bag charge said the charge is likely to succeed “on paper”, with supermarkets reporting lower bag usage.
While a majority of households in Singapore reuse plastic bags for garbage disposal, there also appears to be significant wastage and hoarding. Checks of store shelves and online retailers showed that HDPE garbage bags were widely available, but tended to be larger. Plastic bags sized similarly to supermarket bags are usually not marketed as being for garbage.
Both HDPE and LDPE are water-resistant and good for wet waste, said Mr Benjamin Tan, head of business development at local packaging supplier Stream Peak. But LDPE is the preferred choice for industrial use, such as bagging biohazard waste. Aquariums also tend to use LDPE bags to package fish in water.
The heat from burning trash is used to generate steam, which is used to drive turbines, generating energy equivalent to almost 3 to 5 per cent of the country’s total electricity production, he said. The key is the separation of wet waste from dry waste. Ms Yee said that she keeps small packaging to use as bags for wet trash, such as waste from food preparation. These wet waste bags see a higher turnaround to avoid attracting pests.
Responding to the concern that not bagging trash will attract pests, Zero Waste SG’s executive director Ms Tan said this was usually true for food waste or wet waste. “At most, one supermarket bag can be used as the bin liner and reused multiple times because it should not be dirtied,” she said.Sorting waste into recyclables will also cut down on the need for bags. Recyclables, once cleaned and dried, can be“If we find that we still need bags, they are available, and if it is supermarket bags specifically that needed, then the charge per bag will remind us to only buy what we need and not take more bags because ‘it is free’,” said Ms Tan.
“It is only when we mix all waste together that the only solution to manage the waste would be to incinerate it or to dump it in a landfill,” he added. The bag charge is more than just a financial disincentive, said Dr Samuel Chng, head of the Urban Psychology Lab at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.
“We are also subconsciously developing an awareness and discernment of what are avoidable consumptions and how we are able to contribute, through our everyday behaviours, to climate challenges.”
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