Excerpted from The Straits Times
Oct 5, 2017
Supermarkets are discussing a plastic bag surcharge. But they fear losing customers if they do so. More political will is needed to carry this measure through.
Plastic bags are undeniably useful: people use them for bagging waste, carrying wet umbrellas, or for holding sweaty clothes after a session at the gym.
But do we really need so many of them? Singapore used about three billion plastic bags in 2011, according the Singapore Environment Council (SEC). This number is likely to have risen as the population increased.
A plastic bag tax could be one way to reduce their number.
Last month, the Sunday Times reported that Singapore’s four main supermarket chains – FairPrice, Dairy Farm Group, Prime Supermarket and Sheng Siong – are discussing plans to impose a surcharge for plastic bags of five to 10 cents.
The discussions came about after a green group, Zero Waste Singapore, called on the Government and businesses last year to introduce a levy on the use of plastic bags as a disincentive to shoppers who use them.
***
Why so much fuss over the humble plastic bag? The short answer is that they are toxic to the environment.
First, plastic bags, unlike paper bags, are made from non-renewable sources, such as crude oil. To manufacture the three billion plastic bags Singapore used in 2011, about 37 million kg of crude oil and 12 million kg of natural gas were required, said SEC.
Many households here reuse plastic bags to bag their trash. But no studies have yet determined what proportion of the three billion bags used here a year are reused.
Second, very little plastic is recycled here. Even though some 822,200 tons of plastic waste were generated last year, only 7 per cent was recycled. Of the 762,700 tons of remaining plastic waste, plastic bags constituted about a fifth of it, said the National Environment Agency (NEA). Non-recycled plastic bags, whether biodegradable or not, are all incinerated.
Third, the burning of plastic produces a residual ash. Excessive use of plastic bags could also clog up Singapore’s only landfill, on Pulau Semakau. Ash residue from incineration is sent to the landfill, which is filling up at a rapid rate and may become full as early as 2035, a decade earlier than projected.
Fourth, plastic bags that end up as litter could also clog up Singapore’s waterways and streets, and pose a danger to wildlife that may ingest it.
***
A surcharge is a tried-and-tested way of curbing excessive use of plastic bags. In October 2015, shoppers in Britain had to pay five pence (about nine Singapore cents) for each single-use plastic bag received. It resulted in the number of bags used by shoppers dropping by more than 85 per cent, reported The Guardian.
In Singapore, Japanese lifestyle brand Miniso said usage dropped 75 per cent after it imposed a 10 cent charge per plastic bag in April.
The possibility of a plastic bag tax being implemented in Singapore has sparked intense debate.
An additional tax, if imposed so soon after the water price hike kicked in in July, may not be welcomed by voters.
But in the long run, it is vital to help consumers recognize that the slight inconvenience is a small price to pay for the sake of the environment.
(source: http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/3-billion-plastic-bags-a-year-cut-use-with-mandatory-tax)
