Singapore - Every day, around 150 to 200 trolleys from the two FairPrice supermarkets at Jurong Point mall are not returned and have to be retrieved.

To arrest this problem, the two FairPrice supermarkets there have started getting their staff to give out leaflets and speak to customers about returning trolleys.

The pilot "Trolley Enforcement Project" was launched on Friday (Sept 2) at this particular mall because it has the highest number of trolleys abandoned daily despite having 17 trolley return bays.

Trolley enforcement officers may be stationed at places such as the supermarkets' entrances and exits, as well as the trolley return bays.

They are actually in-house security officers doubling up as trolley enforcement officers, and they wear a vest with their new designation, replacing their plain clothes.

There are currently 10 trolley enforcement officers in total who work in shifts.

In 2015, FairPrice lost about 1,000 trolleys from more than 90 FairPrice stores that provide trolleys, costing it more than $150,000 in trolley replacements, repairs and manpower required for the retrieval of abandoned trolleys. This is an increase of almost 20 per cent compared with five years ago, when more than 800 trolleys were lost.

The management of the Jurong mall will also publish campaign materials through its social media, website, mobile app, and electronic direct mailers to its subscribers, in addition to existing in-store signs and in-store messages in FairPrice played to remind customers to return trolleys.

FairPrice has worked with the Singapore Kindness Movement's (SKM) Seed Kindness Fund to involve students from Republic Polytechnic to spread the word about considerate trolley use through videos on social media. This is part of its campaign around the issue, and will be disseminated through the SKM website and FairPrice's Facebook page.