Supermarkets in talks to charge for plastic bags
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Why are major chains meeting to discuss collectively imposing a surcharge on customers not anti-competitive behavior? Is the Competition Commission sleeping? :scratchhead:
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tankee:
I don't think the goal is to eliminate plastic bag use. Plastic bags are necessary for some functions. Some countries report 70-80% reduction once a charge is imposed. It's just a case of making people more aware and triggering them to find alternatives. For some people, without a financial or punitive incentive to change their habits, they won't.starlight1968sg:
would the goal of reducing plastic bags be well achieved?
it will reduce (which I believe it is the goal) but it will not eliminate -
pirate:
Why are major chains meeting to discuss collectively imposing a surcharge on customers not anti-competitive behavior? Is the Competition Commission sleeping? :scratchhead:
I also don't understand this. Why didn't the government step in to insist that they do this years ago? And if it was govt-imposed, it wouldn't be anti-competitive behaviour. -
My qn is whether we will have to buy plastic bags as bin liner?
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starlight1968sg:
My qn is whether we will have to buy plastic bags as bin liner?
Yes, I suppose. Even if you still get a few plastic bags from supermarkets, you will need to pay for them once the rule kicks in. And buying bin liners in bulk will be cheaper than buying them from supermarkets one at a time.
But you can reuse the plastic bags which you get with your shopping - eg. the fruits/produce bags, bread bags, toilet paper bags etc. Some families may find these bags rather small and may have to use more than 1 in a day, but small families should manage OK. I use 1 produce or bread bag a day for kitchen refuse, and only use a supermarket bag for trash when I am doing a lot of cooking or cutting a lot of fruits. I use 1 supermarket bag a week for wastepaper bin stuff (empty the 4 bins into 1 bag instead of throwing all 4 plastic bag bin liners away). I encourage my family to recycle all cans, plastics, cardboard and paper (and use another supermarket plastic bag every week for this) to reduce the amount of stuff that goes into the wastepaper baskets or kitchen trash. It takes a little getting used to, but once it becomes a habit, it's not that difficult, and you won't need to purchase many plastic bags. I've lived in the UK and China, both of which charged for plastic bags, and it just becomes a way of life. I would have a pack of purchased bin liners on standby but didn't have to use them often. And think of the raw materials saved, the carbon dioxide not produced and the litter (and wildlife deaths) avoided.
For low income families, I'm sure we can find a way to provide reusable bags for them. Perhaps social welfare organisations can collect donations of bags and hand them out every now and then. -
I am all for supermarkets to charge 10c or 20c per plastic bag. It is long overdue.
Our govt did not step in earlier because our govt is fundamentally economical in nature and does not quite believe in environment protection
I bring my own recycling bags (those bought from NTUC) to the supermarkets when I know I need to buy lots of groceries.
I started BYOB habit a few years back when NTUC first started to charge customers 10c per bag. Back then, I recall seeing more and more aunties BYOB when paying at cashier. However, the prog was terminated shortly, likely after customers complain.
If organizations like IKEA or Bossinis are charging for bags (for years already) but customers still throng there, why should supermarkets worry? -
Jennifer:
I think there plastic bags will still be allowed for raw meat and wet produce. Most countries with plastic bag laws allow this. The aim of the laws is to reduce the use of plastic bags, not eliminate their use completely.Next is how to bring containers to buy raw meat/fish?
I think I am going to use more water :nailbite: -
Agreed that it is the mindset and habit issue
I use plastic bags as bin liner. I use a plastic bag per day. As for lining waste paper baskets, I use the smaller ones and hardly change them because they are mainly fried “rubbish”. It is the kitchen bin that am concerned with
Yes, other countries including some parts of Malaysia are already charging for plastic bags and we are admittedly late in this -
I lived in China from before the plastic bag laws were introduced, till after. The change in behaviour was fast, and it didn’t take long for people to adjust. Before, many people were just like in Singapore - plastic bags were handed out liberally at supermarkets, with many items being separated even if they were already sealed in their own plastic packaging, lots of double-bagging even if it wasn’t necessary etc. People would use them liberally, bagging and throwing trash several times a day even if the bag wasn’t full. After the law kicked in, people found that they could make do with just 1 plastic bag instead of 3 or 4 when shopping, and more people started bringing reusable bags. There was a upsurge in “upcycling” old t-shirts and other fabrics to make individualised shopping bags. I think it’s better to bite the bullet and change our ways quickly rather than trying to make it “easy” and have it drag on.
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starlight1968sg:
They only charge on certain day of the week, right?Agreed that it is the mindset and habit issue
I use plastic bags as bin liner. I use a plastic bag per day. As for lining waste paper baskets, I use the smaller ones and hardly change them because they are mainly fried “rubbish”. It is the kitchen bin that am concerned with
Yes, other countries including some parts of Malaysia are already charging for plastic bags and we are admittedly late in this -
lee_yl:
They had BYOB day some years back, didn't they? Guess it didn't work well.I am all for supermarkets to charge 10c or 20c per plastic bag. It is long overdue.
Our govt did not step in earlier because our govt is fundamentally economical in nature and does not quite believe in environment protection
I bring my own recycling bags (those bought from NTUC) to the supermarkets when I know I need to buy lots of groceries.
I started BYOB habit a few years back when NTUC first started to charge customers 10c per bag. Back then, I recall seeing more and more aunties BYOB when paying at cashier. However, the prog was terminated shortly, likely after customers complain.
If organizations like IKEA or Bossinis are charging for bags (for years already) but customers still throng there, why should supermarkets worry?
As for IKEA, I guess most of the shoppers planned their trip there. For supermarket, I believe many just pop in to grab a few things on the way home or during lunch so I think it's quite diff. -
I think people generally LOVE the supermarket plastic bags!
Some of the shoppers will ask for an extra bag or 2…and the cashier very often offer to ‘double bag’ heavier things even when I said ‘donch need’…I think they must have encountered just too many requests. -
The plastic bags do have a purpose
How did we handle trash/waste in the past? -
Nebbermind:
That was a trial sometime back and since discontinued. In my opinion, the one-day-a-week trial was designed to fail. How many would remember? If it's 100% of the time, people will change their habits.
They only charge on certain day of the week, right?starlight1968sg:
Agreed that it is the mindset and habit issue
I use plastic bags as bin liner. I use a plastic bag per day. As for lining waste paper baskets, I use the smaller ones and hardly change them because they are mainly fried “rubbish”. It is the kitchen bin that am concerned with
Yes, other countries including some parts of Malaysia are already charging for plastic bags and we are admittedly late in this -
Nebbermind:
For supermarket, I believe many just pop in to grab a few things on the way home or during lunch so I think it's quite diff.
I keep a couple of folded supermarket plastic bags folded up in my handbag for such eventualities. Usually such spur-of-the-moment buys won't need more than 1-2 bags. On the occasions when I might need more bags, I would probably just pay rather than go home and collect more bags, then go to the supermarket (balancing the cost in time and transport vs extra 5/10 cents per extra bag).
When supermarket plastic bags are no longer free, I've seen that most people (even men) will carry a foldable bag of some kind in their bags. Some are made of thin but strong material and fold up neatly into themselves. -
starlight1968sg:
Good question!The plastic bags do have a purpose
How did we handle trash/waste in the past?
I wonder how they did it during those dinosaur days when they just wrapped the meat/vege with newspaper and string it. -
starlight1968sg:
How far in the past? Even when I was young, there were plastic bags in use. It's just the no. that is increasing. Veg used to be packed in newspaper, and several newspaper bundles put into a single plastic bag. I have also noticed that the amount of packaging waste has increased a lot now that people shop at stores and supermarkets more than at wet markets, and even wet market stalls package their goods more. The bulkier the packaging, the more plastic bags are needed.The plastic bags do have a purpose
How did we handle trash/waste in the past?
In the past, refuse was probably just chucked in bins without plastic bags, but that would create problems with rats and insects. Especially now that so many live in flats and use chutes. So plastic bags are still needed. It's just that the use of plastic bags has increased so greatly that something needs to be done to moderate the no. handed out and used wastefully (and many just hang around unused, becoming litter or just trash in themsleves). Again, it is not that plastic bags are being banned, but it has been shown that when a cost is attached to each bag, people will use them more sparingly. -
Nebbermind:
For the BYOB prog, it saves NTUC 10.1million plastic bags in 2016 and 9million plastic bags in 2015. However, I think more can be done.
They had BYOB day some years back, didn't they? Guess it didn't work well.
As for IKEA, I guess most of the shoppers planned their trip there. For supermarket, I believe many just pop in to grab a few things on the way home or during lunch so I think it's quite diff.
You need not rebate me 10c and I will still BYOB. But for many customers, one trolley of groceries easily use up 20 plastic bags used (some double layer some more). To fork out money from your pocket, you will feel the pinch and automatically BYOB.
Not true that all who go IKEA bring their own bags as I always see customers willing to pay for bags (if they forget to bring cos no habit) at ikea cashier.
It is all about creating and sustaining the culture. When 10 people dine at IKEA, 9 will return their own tray. However, this same group of people when dining at hawker centre/food courts, 9 out of 10 will act blur and not bother to return their trays. -
Sorry but NTUC grocery plastic bags are biodegradable, no?
Their waste mgmt vendor said so!
https://s26.postimg.org/6o7i9l2m1/2017-09-25.png\">
Anyway, I buy rolls of biodegradable trash bags in diff sizes from NTUC. I hate to see balls of plastic bags accumulating at my backyard.
I don't understand why supermarket cashiers here are so generous in pulling out 1 plastic bag after another to segregate groceries. The Self Checkout counters are worse. They leave free stacks hanging there for customers to take as they like. I was used to bringing my Kipling backpack to carry detergents/nonperishables, and another hand carrier/tote for perishables when overseas. In EU, no one gave me any plastic bag unless i paid 0.50-1euro. Sometimes, I carried my 6-pack mineral water with 1 hand and a pair of bananas in another.
But we must also understand it's not realistic to eliminate usage in our local hawker centres. Our Asian takeouts are different from European or American takeouts which are literally brown-bagged as they are relatively dryer. Our mee pok, bak chor mee, char keow teow and wanton mee can be quite a mess to brown-bag, unless customer bring their own tiffins like in the 1960s-70s.
Notice in EU, the angmoh butchers pack your meats, hotdogs, ham in paper bags? Same for their bakeries. On the other hand, our Singapore bakeries give us plastic bags like no one's business. For instance, our Breadtalk and Four Leaves use 1 plastic bag per bun and 1 big pretty plastic bag to contain all the smaller plastic bags!
I don't know if it's due to EU's dry and cold climate that gives me the impression their poultry, beef, fish and deli meats are less messy. Our SG wet markets, coupled with our humid climate, seem to forever churn out messy mutilated fish, pork and chicken parts, making it impossible not to have plastic bags.
I thought in mainland China, they still give for free? Only in HK do they charge for the plastic bags since 2009. -
lee_yl:
The return tray at food centres just donch work well...coz I think most of the people are still messy eaters....even after they return the trays, the tables are still very dirty/messy....I wonder if other cultures face less of such problem, ie, messy table
It is all about creating and sustaining the culture. When 10 people dine at IKEA, 9 will return their own tray. However, this same group of people when dining at hawker centre/food courts, 9 out of 10 will act blur and not bother to return their trays.