Towards a Plastic-lite Singapore

ADJOURNMENT MOTION

The Deputy Leader (Mr Desmond Lee): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament do now adjourn."

Question proposed.

Towards a Plastic-lite Singapore

7.34 pm

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, 1.8 not million, not billion but trillion. A recent study found 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing a total of 80,000 tonnes, currently floating in a stretch of ocean between California and Hawaii. And researchers estimate that humans dump eight million tonnes of plastic in the ocean every year. The facts and statistics are beyond horrifying. As I looked into the problem further, I found video after video of people diving in ASEAN waters full of plastic trash. It was truly disheartening.

Sir, I believe that we have reached a turning point for this issue of plastic waste. If we do not do anything about it, there will be more plastic than fish in our ocean by 2050. The plastic does not just stay in the sea. It breaks down, releasing greenhouse gases that worsen global warming. It chokes and kills a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year. And ultimately, it breaks down into microplastics and is eaten by fish, crabs, and mussels. This comes back to us on our plates, in our food. It comes back a full circle and our own plastic trash harms us directly. Plastic can no longer be seen just as an environmental problem. It is also a danger to our own health. It must be addressed as an urgent public safety issue.

Speaking at the G7 Summit earlier this year, the UN Secretary General told world leaders that we are facing a "global emergency" over the plastic in our oceans, and that "leadership is needed now, more than ever" to protect "our collective future and security". Thus, I am heartened to see that Singapore is taking the initiative in organising international cooperation on this issue, through the 13th East Asia Summit. This November, Singapore will host officials from ASEAN countries along with several non-ASEAN countries, to discuss several issues, including a Statement on a Regional Plan of Action on Combatting Marine Plastic Debris. Sir, many of the nations who will gather for this Summit have already demonstrated a firm commitment to action against plastics waste. Indonesia has pledged US$1 billion per year to various initiatives targeting plastic consumption and pollution. Malaysia has just announced their zero-waste plan that aims to abolish single-use plastic by 2030. The whole country or some cities in the United States, India, Myanmar, Australia, South Korea, Cambodia and China have either implemented some form of plastic bag charge or banned plastic bags or other single-use plastic items – soon, Brunei and New Zealand will join them.

Given that much of the world’s ocean plastic originates from here, in this region, our actions can have a truly global impact. Singapore's platform as a regional leader and host of the East Asia Summit gives us the ability and responsibility to step up our own plastic reduction efforts at home, and call on every member nation to do the same. Sir, Singapore is doing our part but I feel we need to, we can and we must do more. We are doing well at tackling the symptoms of the problem. Singapore’s efficient waste management system ensures that litter in our waterways is removed with litter traps before it reaches the sea.

But oceans do not follow national borders. Whether the marine litter comes from us here in Singapore or other countries, it still ends up in our food and still washes up on Singapore's shores. And there is a lot of it. Just two weeks ago, Jo Teo shared on Facebook about her experience at an International Coastal Cleanup organised by Little Green Men: "Today was an eye-opening experience for me. Having done beach cleanups with students, I’ve always thought that our beaches were ok. Not too dirty, maybe an odd piece of litter here and there. Perhaps we’ve always gone to "cleaned" stretches of beaches."

Today, we were at a small stretch of Chek Jawa that is a little away from the boardwalk area where people typically visit. At first glance, it seemed to be fairly clean, yet in less than two hours, 30 plus of us collected well over 200 kilos of plastic! Plastic is really a HUGE problem! Imagine! We were only cleaning a tiny stretch of coastline perhaps just 50 metres long! What about those still in the water?”

We can continue cleaning our shores and continue trapping litter before it enters our waters but we need to move beyond addressing symptoms of the problem. In August, at the Foreign Minister's meeting in advance of the East Asia Summit, the Ministers noted that one of the root causes of marine plastic debris is the excessive use of plastic bags. That is the root of the problem, which we must tackle in order to successfully combat Marine Plastic Debris. If every country just focuses on trapping waste before it enters the waters, we will be combating Marine Plastic Debris problem forever. We need to tackle the excessive use of plastic and I hope that Singapore will take the lead on this.

In 2016, Singapore discarded 27 billion plastic bags, an average of 13 bags per person per day. This throwaway culture is so deeply ingrained. Even when I bring my own reusable bag to the supermarket, the cashier sometimes puts my groceries first into a plastic bag, and then into my reusable bag. We really need to start thinking about our plastic bag use. Senior Minister of State Amy Khor previously said, "Unlike many of the countries that have imposed a ban or mandatory plastic charge, plastic bag charge, we do not directly landfill our plastic disposables but incinerate them. As such, we do not face the land and water pollution issues that plague those countries."

But Sir, is it okay to waste so much plastic, simply because our waste will be burned or removed from sewage discharge into the ocean? Or phrased differently, is it alright to litter just because someone else will clean up after? Burning the excessive number of plastic bags we throw away is again addressing the symptoms of the problem. Again, we need to tackle the root of the problem. And we all agree on this. As Senior Minister of State Amy Khor has stated, we must "adopt a holistic approach and tackle this upstream".

We should go to the source of the problem, and cut plastic waste by cutting plastic use. Minister Masagos has also recently pointed this out, "the issue with plastic waste here [is] not about improper disposal, but about reducing the demand", and "everyone [should work] together instead of waiting for someone else to take action".

There are lots of people taking action in Singapore. Sir, many people have formed groups like Plastic-Lite SG, Zero Waste SG, Tingkat Heroes, and Straw-Free Singapore, organising campaigns and outreach efforts to educate others about how to fight our throw-away culture. This groundswell has also rippled through the private sector. Multinational brands like Hyatt Hotels, KFC, and IKEA as well as local businesses like Unpackt, The Green Collective, Plain Vanilla, and Muthu's Curry – have taken the initiative to reduce or eliminate plastics in their operations. And just last month, DBS launched #recycle more waste less, a nationwide campaign to discourage the use of single-use plastics.

In the public sector, the Government is engaging stakeholders to voluntarily reduce all types of packaging waste and cut the use of single-use plastic items. Soon, we will mandate businesses report on the type and amount of packaging they put on the market and their plans for reduction.

We also have the Singapore Packaging Agreement, which encourages businesses to minimise packaging waste.

At our new hawker centres, we have also disallowed the use of disposables for dine-ins. And lastly, MEWR will be developing an inaugural Zero Waste Masterplan to be released next year.

But the Government can and should do more. Sir, I propose two policy changes.

Firstly, we need to review the public sector’s own waste generation practices.

In our Public Sector Sustainability Plan 2017 to 2020, the word "plastic" is only mentioned once, in the paragraph on recycling.

The plan does talk about waste reduction but I hope we can add the word "plastic waste reduction" to be more specific.

I hope we can put a stronger emphasis on the reduction component rather than the recycling otherwise we are again focusing on the symptoms of the problem.

Senior Minister of State had previously stated that we ought to consider encouraging all Ministries and agencies to eliminate single-use plastics from their catering and events.

This is really what our Government ought to do in order to walk the talk and lead by example.

And I hope we start this practice at Singapore's biggest party, our National Day Parade. This year's NDP fun pack contained many plastic items individually wrapped in plastic, and even a NDP 2018 plastic bag for each person to bag their waste.

If NDP 2019 next year were to use only reusable items with minimal packaging, it would send a strong signal that our nation is committed to building a sustainable world.

Secondly, we must cut the demand for single-use plastic bags by implementing a charge for single-use carrier bags of all materials.

As Senior Minister of State Amy Khor had recently pointed out, substituting plastic bags with paper or other biodegradable plastic bags may have negative environmental outcomes, as the latter have higher carbon footprints.

I agree with Senior Minister of State that we should ensure consumers do not substitute carrier bags but instead make the switch to bringing their own reusable bags.

Using one reusable bag a year can save 125 plastic bags from being littered or incinerated and the reduced demand for plastic would drastically decrease plastic production.

Let me stress that this is about reduction and not replacement. This motion is about a plastic-lite Singapore, not a plastic-free Singapore.

And I do understand the public concern that plastic bags are necessary to bag household trash. I, too, use plastic bags to throw my rubbish down the rubbish chute.

To make sure that the plastic bag charge policy is tailored to Singapore's unique situation, bags used to carry fresh produce should be exempted from this charge.

Using reusable bags to carry fresh produce, raw meat, or seafood may be unhygienic, so plastic bags should be given out for free for such items. I understand that Hong Kong is already doing this.

In this way, people can still obtain some free bags to bin their trash, maintaining the cleanliness and safety of our rubbish chutes and waste disposal system.

There are, of course, critiques of what Hong Kong is doing, how people are gaming the system because of this free bag exemption, how enforcement is difficult – and if I may add, the media asked me about this yesterday – and how compliant rate is only about 50%. But at least Hong Kong is trying and I rather be optimistic and say, "Not bad, 50% of retailers are compliant; good start!"

A plastic bag charge has proven to be effective in Singapore. After implementing a 10-cent plastic bag charge in 2017, lifestyle brand Miniso reported that customers’ plastic bag usage dropped by 75%.

As IKEA Singapore demonstrated, this charge can also be a stepping stone to comprehensively eliminate use of all disposable plastic items. In 2007, they implemented a 10-cent plastic bag charge; in 2013, they stopped offering disposable bags entirely. Today, they are working to remove all single-use plastic products from the IKEA range and restaurants by 2020.

Based on the survey by zero-waste Singapore, many Singaporeans have responded positively to the possibility of a plastic bag charge. This may benefit retailers as well as customers. When we receive plastic bags from shops, we often think we are getting them for free. But, in fact, carrier bags may be a significant cost to retailers. Yi Hong Minimart spends $2,000 to $3,000 on plastic bags each month, or one month alone. These costs are obviously passed on to consumers, raising product prices. Hence, we are already paying for these plastic bags.

A shift towards plastic-lite practice throughout the retail industry will give customers more choice in whether to pay for plastic bags, and also help retailers save money and the environment. As such, while a plastic bag charge looks like it will increase cost for everyone, in fact, it will do the opposite and might help to bring cost down for everyone.

Sir, in conclusion, environmentalist Robert Swan said, "The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it".

Let us not play the waiting game. Although we live on this planet as if we had another one to go to, we do just have this planet we call home and we all need to save it, together and urgently.

Sir, just two days ago, my daughter Ella and I were at the opening of the Turtle Hatchery at Sisters' Island. On the boat ride there, Ella exclaimed, "Look daddy, there is so much rubbish in the sea, we need to pick them up to save the animals".

There really was so much plastic trash. It was shocking and painful to see so many plastic bags and bottles in the oceans, in Singapore waters. I shared this on Facebook on Saturday night and you can see over 80 plastic bottles in the oceans in one of the photos I took.

Sir, a four-year-old knows that this wrong. A four-year-old knows that we must do something to combat this plastic problem. Surely, we as a Government should take the lead and do more.

Singapore has done a lot but I hope Senior Minister of State's reply to my speech will not focus on what we have done and what we are currently doing. Those are already publicly available. I hope her speech will focus on what more we can do, beyond incinerating the plastic, recycling plastic waste, trapping the waste before it enters our waters, the packaging agreement and the mandatory reporting.

Lastly, Sir, I hope Senior Minister of State can address these questions.

One, will we be putting more emphasis on plastic waste reduction in our public sector's sustainability plan?

Two, will the Public Service be eliminating single-use plastic from their catering any events?

Three, will NDP 2019 use only reusable items with minimal packaging?

Lastly and four, will the Government implement a charge for single-use carrier bags of all materials and not just plastic bags?

Sir, this Wednesday, Ella and her schoolmates will be doing a coastal clean-up. I am sure she is going to find lots of plastic on our shores. I sincerely hope that when my two other daughters Katie and Poppy grow up, there will no longer be a need to do coastal clean-ups.

7.49 pm

The Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan): Mr Deputy Speaker, managing plastic and packaging waste is one of the key priorities of my Ministry. I thank Mr Louis Ng for speaking in support of my Ministry’s work, and encouraging everyone to strive for a plastic-lite Singapore.

My Ministry believes the long-term approach is to engage Singaporeans on the importance of sustainability. Quick fixes address the symptoms but not the root of the problem.

Hence, our aim is to build a national consciousness to care for the environment, so that Singaporeans and businesses will take action, even beyond what the regulations require. This process may take longer but that is the right way; the positive effects will go beyond plastic bags, beyond packaging, beyond waste management to areas including climate action.

We can succeed. We see growing numbers of businesses and Singaporeans who go the extra mile to care for the environment. Mr Louis Ng himself is one such example. He has also cited many other examples and I notice that many of them are in the House today.

Let me share with Members the holistic approach my Ministry is undertaking to reduce plastic use and manage plastic waste. This goes beyond plastic bags to include packaging such as bottles and containers. One third of domestic waste comes from packaging.

Even as we seek to reduce plastic usage, we recognise that plastics have their uses; substituting them with other materials may not be more environmentally friendly as some may perceive. For example, the British Government estimated that a cotton tote bag must be used 173 times before its greenhouse gas emission impact improves beyond the plastic bags we use to line our bins. Our life-cycle assessment of common carrier bags had the same conclusion. Hence, our approach is to reduce excessive consumption of all types of packaging, including plastics used by businesses and individuals.

We started the Singapore Packaging Agreement in 2007. This voluntary initiative is well-supported by companies and has collectively reduced some 46,000 tonnes of packaging.

We are now moving to a regulatory system to tackle packaging waste systematically on a large scale.

Hence, we brought forward the requirement for businesses to report the type and amount of packaging they are putting on the market and their plans for reduction, by one year to 2020. This will focus management’s attention on the amount of packaging used, and raise awareness of the potential to reduce packaging.

We are also studying the feasibility of adopting the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) approach for packaging waste. This will impose collection targets on businesses who use or produce packaging. It incentivises businesses to reduce their packaging upstream, and ensures the proper recycling of packaging downstream.

We will publish the details of these initiatives to address packaging waste, and other measures for e-waste, food waste and so forth in the inaugural Zero Waste Masterplan to be launched next year. We will not hesitate to legislate where necessary. But we will do so by taking a pragmatic and considered approach that suits our local context.

While we will always seek to learn from others, it is never our practice in policy-making to simply follow what other countries have done.

Our efforts to address plastic waste go beyond our borders. We take the issue of marine plastic pollution seriously. Singapore participates actively in regional and international discussions to address marine litter and microplastics. We also contribute to international capacity building efforts. For example, under the Singapore-Norway Third Country Training Programme, NEA partnered experts from UNEP and our Norwegian counterparts to share our expertise on waste management and pollution control, as well as the management of plastics waste and microplastics.

We are heartened by the efforts of various countries to tackle marine plastic pollution as highlighted by Mr Louis Ng. Singapore is also doing our part. We have strict anti-littering measures and dispose of most general waste at our waste-to-energy plants to prevent marine pollution from land-based sources. Any litter that enters our waterways is removed using litter traps and flotsam removal craft before it reaches the sea.

Let us be clear. Marine pollution is caused by the improper disposal of plastic waste, and not the use of plastics per se. A 3 March Economist article entitled "The known unknowns of plastic pollution" reached the same conclusion. Hence, our measures deal with the root cause of marine pollution and are not merely addressing symptoms as Mr Louis Ng posited.

The result is that Singapore is acknowledged as one of the smallest contributors to marine plastic pollution in the world, according to studies including a 2015 University of Georgia study on "Plastic Waste Inputs from Land into the Ocean" and the UN Environment’s 2016 report on marine plastic debris and microplastics.

Notwithstanding, we will continue to address the issue of marine plastics pollution through our stringent anti-littering measures, educating the public against littering and excessive consumption of plastics and introducing regulatory measures to minimise plastic and packaging waste upstream.

The public sector is also doing its part to promote green practices among its agencies. We have published a Best Practice Guide to guide agencies to organise environmentally-friendly events. For example, we avoid the use of plastic bottled water and disposables by providing water dispensers and reusable crockery and cutlery where possible. We will also continue to improve our Public Sector Sustainability Plan, where waste reduction is a key thrust, and I will try to make sure that "plastics" is mentioned more than once. Under the plan, we require large buildings to report the amount of waste disposed and will set waste reduction targets for the public sector.

I am happy to share that my Ministry is definitely taking the lead. We do not serve bottled water for meetings. Our staff bring their own plates and cutlery for events to avoid the use of disposables. We are encouraging other public sector agencies to do the same for their meetings and events such as the the National Day Parade (NDP) as well as community activities to minimise the use of plastics.

Beyond what the public sector is doing, I am encouraged that many passionate groups and individuals like Plastic-Lite SG, UnPackt and Tabao Girl are moving the ground in their own ways. Companies such as KFC and IKEA have similarly done so. I welcome more to join them. NEA will support them if required, such as through the 3P Partnership Fund.

Last year, NEA supported Zero Waste SG’s Bring-Your-Own Campaign that brought 430 retailers and F&B companies together to incentivise consumers to bring their own reusable containers and bags. Not only did it raise awareness, it also averted the use of two million pieces of plastic disposables. This shows how we can multiply our impact if we all work in partnership.

On the proposed carrier bag charge, we will continue to monitor developments in this area. Mr Louis Ng referred to the Hong Kong system of giving free bags for hygiene purposes. This addresses the issue of providing some bags to households for bagging their waste. But as he also noted, this complicates the system, making enforcement even more difficult. I understand from reports, as Mr Louis Ng also pointed out, that the non-compliance rate in Hong Kong is about a third to half.

The Singapore Environment Council's latest survey showed that two-thirds of respondents use their plastic bags for bagging waste. An equal proportion of respondents ranked a plastic bag charge as their most and their least preferred option.

There is still more we can do to persuade consumers not to take more than they need, and to bring their own reusable bags. As the same Economist article puts it, even though plastics is not at the top of environmental ills, it is highly visible, and I would say, emotional. This gives us the opening to encourage Singaporeans to form the right habits.

I believe this is one area where we can work with our 3P partners to engage and educate Singaporeans and change their habits.

Sir, to sum up, the key shift my Ministry is working on is to develop in Singapore a national consciousness to care for the environment. Let us give the policies that we have and will be putting in place time to take effect and for people to change habits. I would like to thank as well as urge the many passionate individuals like Mr Louis Ng, and the passionate groups, including the many who are here today, to continue to partner us to shape our nation's values. Only then will our efforts be sustainable.

7.59 pm

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Louis Ng, you have some clarifications?

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: Sir, I have three clarifications. I think the Senior Minister of State mentioned about encouraging but can I confirm whether the Public Service is planning to eliminate single use plastic in our catering of events?

Same for the NDP, I think the Senior Minister of State mentioned that we are going to encourage but I think planning would have probably started for 2019. So can I confirm that NDP 2019 will only use reusable items with minimal packaging?

Lastly, for the proposed carrier bag charge, can I ask whether MEWR can at least do a study on this issue and whether they can report back to this House once the study is completed.

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I thank the Member for his further clarifications.

Firstly, in terms of getting the public sector to reduce its use of disposables, as I have said, we have a Best Practice Guide, and actually in the Best Practice Guide, we mentioned "plastics" many times. So, we have encouraged them to reduce the use of plastic bottles, plastic bags, as much as possible, as well as reduce packaging of their collaterals. And, I think, what we can say is that we will encourage them to do this as much as possible because for some events, including NDP and major events, it may not be possible to entirely do away with bottled water, and just use water dispensers, because of the large number of people. So, as far as practicable and applicable, we will encourage them to do so.

With regard to NDP 2019, we will encourage the NDP organisers to do this also as much as it is practicable.

With regard to the study, actually we have already done an extensive study on single-use carrier bags and disposables, and we have shared in this House and with the Member too the results of the study where it showed it is not necessarily true that using other types of disposables versus plastics will give you a better environmental outcome or impact. As I also noted earlier in this speech, even the British study has shown that for a reusable tote bag to benefit in terms of greenhouse gas emission reduction, you have to use it 173 times. So, what you really want to do is to go upstream. And I suppose I will be disappointing the Member by reiterating and repeating what I have said in this House before and what I will be saying again on the same issues that you have also raised in this House that really, what we want to do is move upstream. And we will not hesitate to implement and take regulatory measures to manage waste and to protect the environment where we think it is practicable, effective and useful to do so. So, we will be implementing carbon tax, as well as EPR on e-waste, as well as mandatory reporting for packaging waste and the reduction plans.

As far as carrier bags are concerned, we think that it is more practicable, more sustainable, to take the long-term approach. It may take a longer time, but it is really to change habits, educate and encourage the public to reduce the use of disposables and all types of packaging.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Ng, you have only two more minutes.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: I will use the two minutes, Sir.

I know we have the guidelines; I know this will not happen overnight as well. Malaysia has announced that they are going to do it by 2030. So, I am just wondering if MEWR has a long-term plan of eliminating single-use plastics in public-sector events. Can we at least commit to, say, we will eliminate this by 2030? So, maybe not NDP 2019, but NDP 2030? Can we do this?

Mr Deputy Speaker: Senior Minister of State, you have only one and a half minutes.

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: We will leave it to whoever the Minister for Environment is at that point in time to decide on NDP 2030.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn."

Adjourned accordingly at 8.04 pm.