Reviewing Provision of Plastic Bags at Retail Shops
Ministry of Sustainability and the EnvironmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Miss Cheng Li Hui's inquiry on whether the Government will prohibit retail outlets from providing free plastic bags to minimize waste and environmental harm. Minister Masagos Zulkifli B M M responded that Singapore mitigates environmental risks by incinerating all incinerable waste at waste-to-energy plants before landfilling it as ash. The Ministry aims to reduce excessive consumption to lower carbon emissions and encourages shoppers to reuse plastic bags for household trash or use reusable bags. Retailers are also encouraged to educate consumers, with IKEA cited as an example of a stakeholder that has already ceased providing free disposable plastic bags. Additionally, the National Environment Agency is conducting a study on the environmental impact and costs of single-use carriers to guide future policy decisions on bag usage.
Transcript
55 Miss Cheng Li Hui asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether the Government will consider prohibiting shops, supermarkets and sales outlets from providing free plastic bags in order to minimise their usage and reduce the harmful impact they have on our environment.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Plastic bags are of particular concern in countries where waste is landfilled, resulting in the plastic bags remaining in the landfill for a long time, or finding their way into water bodies or the sea, affecting marine life and food sources. In Singapore, this effect is minimised as all incinerable waste, including plastic bags, are incinerated safely at our waste-to-energy plants before they are landfilled as ash.
Notwithstanding this, my Ministry upholds the approach of avoiding excessive consumption of plastic bags to reduce waste generation and carbon emissions. We encourage shoppers to take only what plastic bags they need and to reuse them to bag household trash. We also encourage the habitual use of reusable bags as much as possible. Stakeholders, such as retailers, also play a role in encouraging and educating consumers to bring their own bags and reduce the use of plastic bags. One example is IKEA which does not provide free disposable plastic bags for its shoppers.
My Ministry will continue to look into additional ways to reduce the excessive consumption of plastic bags. Last month, the National Environment Agency called for a tender to study how different types of single-use carriers compare in terms of cost and impact on the environment. The study will better inform our policies on how to guide the use of different types of bags in future.