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| Today
Online 7 Jul
05 Want to charge for that bag? Under NEA plan, retailers may put a price on bags if they want to Lee U-Wen u-wen@newstoday.com.sg SINGAPOREANS could one day start paying for their plastic bags if a proposal to implement a voluntary charging scheme is given the green light. The National Environment Agency (NEA), a body of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, is studying the practices in countries such as Germany, where retailers charge customers for plastic bags of their own accord, without any formal government legislation in place. The head of the NEA's Resource Conservation Department, Mr Ong Seng Eng, told Today recently that his team is exploring the advantages of such a "voluntary approach", where major retailers would be roped in to support the cause. When the proposal is ready, Mr Ong's team will make a presentation to Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim and discuss the feasibility of introducing such a practice in Singapore. Other senior ministry officials will also be present to offer their input. A voluntary scheme is regarded as being more equitable as customers only pay for the bags they use and are encouraged to bring their own when they go shopping. It is believed that most would also think twice about littering or discarding plastic bags once such a scheme was in place. On how the scheme might work, Mr Ong said: "It could be charging a fee for each bag, or for every fourth or fifth bag they take. Getting the retailers to give rebates to 'green' customers is another good way to encourage more people to bring their own bag. . "We would have to discuss this with each retailer." Contrary to popular belief, bags have never been given out free in supermarkets, he said. The current practice of issuing them "free" means that the cost of providing the bags is passed on to all customers, regardless of the number of bags they take. The idea of "voluntarily charging" customers for plastic bags was raised several years ago but drew flak from many major supermarkets out of fear they could lose their customers to rival stores. This time, the NEA is confident that retailers will be more receptive to the idea, given that Singaporeans have become more aware of the plastic bag issue and increases in the cost of producing them. But the NEA's plans have one critic in Mr Howard Shaw, executive director of the Singapore Environment Council. "I'm pessimistic as to whether any major retailer would adopt such a voluntary measure. The competition for customers will always be there, so what if one retailer decides not to participate? The scheme won't work then." "If we're talking about a collective agreement where everyone has to be part of the scheme, then it has to require some form of legislation. I think that for our society to reduce plastic bag wastage, we still have to look into imposing a formal levy on bags," he said. links Related articles on Singapore: plastic bags More articles on Singapore: general environmental issues |
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