Forum: Cut amount of single-use plastic in supermarkets
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
It has been more than a year since supermarkets in Singapore, mandated by the authorities, started charging consumers for plastic bags.
This caused a major shift in consumer behaviour, as reported in the article “ Over 90% of customers bring own bags after mandatory 5-cent charge for plastic bags: NEA survey
Is it perhaps time for businesses to go a step further?
In particular, is it time for supermarkets and other retailers to consider reducing the amount of single-use plastic used to package fresh items?
Many fruits and vegetables are packed in plastic punnets, bags or shrink-wrap – the plastics can’t be reused and have to be thrown away.
Wouldn’t it be more environmentally friendly for supermarkets and other retailers to consider selling fruits and vegetables loose?
One could argue that consumers would still be using plastic bags to hold the fruits and vegetables, but those bags can be reused.
Perhaps a deeper study could be done on reducing the amount of plastics that retailers such as supermarkets use.
They should turn to alternatives as part of Singapore’s continuing efforts to be sustainable.
Benny Lai Zhao Wei
