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  Follow up letter Today Online 13 Sep 05
Is the solution really that simple?
Letter from Preeti Athavle

Reply below Today online, 9 Sep 05
Make that green swap: Start using durable bags instead of plastic ones
Reply from ONG SENG ENG Head, Resource Conservation Department, National Environment Agency (NEA)

Today online 6 Sep 05
Cut trash – charge for plastic bags
Letter from Liu I-Chun

I RELOCATED to Taipei with my husband recently and was impressed by the city's highly effective waste management programmes.

Retailers such as supermarkets, department stores, convenience stores and restaurants are banned from giving out free plastic bags. Shoppers either pay for bags or bring their own. In addition, households have to buy special Taipei City Government designated trash bags to dispose of their daily refuse. The amount of waste produced has dropped by 50 per cent since the programme began.

I encourage the National Environment Agency (NEA) to adopt similar strategies. Paying for trash/plastic bags would bolster recycling efforts as people would want to maximise the space in the bags by filling them only with non-recyclable items.

To reduce plastic bag usage, the NEA could join hands with retailers in holding a "Go Green" campaign by giving out foldable reusable bags.

Unless more measures are taken to manage waste, Singapore will soon run out of landfills to accommodate its refuse.

Today online, 7 Sep 05
Charging for trash bags can only help recycling efforts
Letter from Christina Lee Li Nan

I totally agree with Ms Liu I-Chun's letter, "Cut trash — charge for plastic bags" (Sept 6). In the United States, each household had their trash properly separated — paper, plastic and glass — for the recycling company to collect once a week. Children are trained from a young age and recycling became part of their life.

When I was staying in Germany in 1992, the supermarkets, department stores and convenience stores were not allowed to give out free plastic bags. We shoppers had to bring our own bags. We also needed to buy special plastic trash bags to bag our trash in.

Nobody complained, except those who were new to the system. After a while, it became a way of life for everyone. I feel it boils down to how much we care for our environment.

The recycling programme here has a long way to go.

Today online, 9 Sep 05
Make that green swap: Start using durable bags instead of plastic ones
Reply from ONG SENG ENG Head, Resource Conservation Department, National Environment Agency (NEA)

We refer to the letters "Cut trash — charge for plastic bags" (Sept 6) and "Charging for trash bags can only help recycling efforts" (Sept 7).

We share your readers' concerns over the wastage of plastic bags and thank them for their suggestions to reduce the use of plastic bags.

Some countries have taken bold measures to ban or charge for plastic bags as the disposal of these bags has created an environmental problem there. However, this is not the case in Singapore where plastic bags are disposed of at incineration plants.

The heat generated from the incineration plants is converted to electricity which is used to power the plant and the surplus is added to the national electricity grid.

While the disposal of plastics bags may not be of concern to us, we see the liberal issue and excessive use of plastic bags as wasteful and would like to urge shoppers to take only what they need.

The NEA is therefore working with major supermarkets to educate shoppers to curb wastage of plastic bags. Several stores have taken various initiatives such as providing durable bags or selling these bags at cost to customers to encourage them to switch to using these bags instead.

In fact, each of us can do our part by bringing our own durable bags for shopping. We invite more retailers, especially the larger ones, to join us in raising public awareness and making it easier or more attractive for shoppers to use durable bags instead of plastic bags.

Today Online 13 Sep 05
Is the solution really that simple?
Letter from Preeti Athavle

I was a trifle bewildered when I read the letter written by Mr Ong Seng Eng of National Environment Agency (NEA), "Make that green swap: Start using durable bags instead of plastic ones" (Sept 9)

If it were a simple matter of reducing plastic bags merely by incinerating the bags for electricity generation, then why haven't the other "developed" countries done the same?

Why has disposal of plastic bags become a global problem if the solution is so simple and elegant?

I remember an incident in Mumbai — about 10 years ago — when a few children died from toxic fumes generated by the burning of plastic bags. Many others suffered from asthma and other respiratory conditions. I'm sure in any incineration process for plastic bags there must be massive volumes of toxic fumes generated. How will these poisonous fumes be handled?

The other concern is also of reducing waste and becoming environmentally smart. If the NEA itself states that disposal of plastic bags is not a problem, then how can we expect the public at large to make environment-friendly choices?
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