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  Straits Times Online 8 Dec 06
If grocers stop using plastic bags, I'd buy them to line my litter bin
Letter from Margaret Chong Kuan Mui (Mdm)

Straits Times Online 8 Dec 06
Try the Dutch way to reuse plastic bags and recycle bottles
Letter from Mrs Mieke Waterdrinker

Straits Times Forum 9 Dec 06
Use biodegradable plastic bags and recycle them
Letter from Ang Hak Heng

Straits Times Forum 9 Dec 06
Take fewer plastic bags, use them to bag trash
Reply from Vincent Teo Hup Ee Chief Engineer (Waste Minimisation) Resource Conservation Department National Environment Agency

Straits Times Online 4 Dec 06
Charging for plastic bags will cut down on their use
Letter from Mark Ho Boon, Kin Hong Kong

Straits Times Online 4 Dec 06
Waste disposal: How not to use plastic bags?
Letter from Ng Mui Peng (Ms)

Straits Times Online 4 Dec 06
Use cash incentives to promote recycling among shoppers
How about giving incentives to those who recycle?
Letter from Patricia Lynn Meyer (Ms)

Straits Times Online 4 Dec 06
Have separate queue in supermarts for those without plastic bags
Letter from Lilian Chai-Kubler (Ms)

Straits Times Online 29 Nov 06
Charge for plastic bags? NEA prefers education
Reply from NEA

I REFER to the letter, 'Start charging for plastic bags' (ST, Nov 23).

Last year, the National Environment Agency worked with the major supermarkets and the Singapore Environment Council on possible measures to curb the excessive use of plastic shopping bags.

It was agreed that we should first adopt an educational approach to encourage the public to cut down on their use, before considering more drastic measures like charging for plastic bags.

Hence, the 'Why waste plastic bags? Use reusable bags!' campaign was launched in February, to persuade shoppers to use reusable bags so as to avoid collecting more plastic bags than needed.

We acknowledge that this is a long-term process and have been organising follow-up activities, including the 'Spot the green shoppers' contest over the weekend of Nov 18 and 19, to reinforce the message of resource conservation.

If the campaign succeeds in convincing Singaporeans to switch to reusable bags, it would then not be necessary to consider imposing a charge for the use of plastic bags.

Vincent Teo
Chief Engineer Resource
Conservation Dept
National Environment Agency
Straits Times Online 4 Dec 06
Charging for plastic bags will cut down on their use
Letter from Mark Ho Boon, Kin Hong Kong

I WOULD love to use reusable bags rather than plastic ones - but I'm just not mentally conditioned to remember this every time I shop in Singapore. It's too lazily convenient - pop into the supermarket, buy groceries and automatically, everything is bagged for me.

However, when I visit friends in Dublin, Ireland, it quickly dawns on me to take my own bags because I am charged for every plastic bag I request at the supermarket check-out counter. After a single trip to any supermarket in Dublin where I am charged for bags, I automatically remember to take my own thereafter.

Why should this be a 'long- term process'? Let's start and do our part for the environment immediately. Remember, from a monetary viewpoint, a plastic bag tax equals money in government coffers taken from environmentally unfriendly (and maybe forgetful) people. So, a double benefit for both the Government and the environment.

Straits Times Online 4 Dec 06
Waste disposal: How not to use plastic bags?
Letter from Ng Mui Peng (Ms)

I BELIEVE the law in Singapore forbids throwing rubbish down the rubbish chute without bagging it. This is for the safety of cleaners and rubbish collectors, and for the cleanliness of the estate.

The authorities should first look at how bagging refuse can be addressed without plastic bags. Without plastic bags at home, many will throw items down unbagged.
Straits Times Online 4 Dec 06
Use cash incentives to promote recycling among shoppers
How about giving incentives to those who recycle?
Letter from Patricia Lynn Meyer (Ms)

I refer to the Straits Times report on Nov 29 - Charge for plastic bags? NEA prefers education. Education can play a role in encouraging recycling.

But providing an incentive may lead to more action.

Are Singapore's grocery chains prepared to offer an incentive when shoppers bring their own bags? A few cents' discount given for each reuseable shopping bag would promote recycling and reward consumers each time they shop.

Straits Times Online 4 Dec 06
Have separate queue in supermarts for those without plastic bags
Letter from Lilian Chai-Kubler (Ms)

The supermarkets here should try what their French counterparts do in their go-green effort.

Allocate one or two plastic bag-free check-out counters in the supermarkets. This will not just help to educate shoppers but also prepare them for the change when supermarkets stop using plastic bags eventually.

In France, reuseable bags are about 39cm by 45cm large and they are strong and cost about $2 each. They are displayed in full view of the shoppers at the check-out.

The ones I see here are too small and of poor quality, and sometimes they're not even visible at the cashier's counter.

Now during the holiday season, perhaps companies should consider giving away these bags with their promotions to raise more awareness about our environment, as they did in France.

Straits Times Online 8 Dec 06
If grocers stop using plastic bags, I'd buy them to line my litter bin
Letter from Margaret Chong Kuan Mui (Mdm)

I am amused by the various suggestions on how to curb the use of plastic bags. These include punitive measures, rewards, educating the public etc. I feel the crux of the problem is missed.

I have always used all the plastic bags from the grocery shop to line my garbage bin. They are useful to bag used cooking oil (so that this does not clog up my sink or toilet pipes), and other highly perishable food waste.

I cannot imagine the stench and sight of say, rancid curry sauce flowing down the rubbish chutes, and out onto the walkways.

The weather in Singapore is hot and humid, hastening the decay of anything organic.

Would this not give rise to another kind of health hazard? If grocery shops stop giving out plastic bags, I would still buy them to line my bins. They are meant for this purpose.

Straits Times Online 8 Dec 06
Try the Dutch way to reuse plastic bags and recycle bottles
Letter from Mrs Mieke Waterdrinker

I agree with Mr Mark Ho Boon Kin regarding his experience with paying for plastic bags in the shops. I am a Dutch citizen and in Holland you have to pay for the bags as well. You hardly forget to bring your own bag with this system. It costs you 50 euro cents (S$1) to buy a new one. So now everyone in Holland carries bags when they go shopping.

Also, we pay more for drinks in plastic bottles such as Coca Cola. An extra 50 euro cents is added on top of the price of a bottle of soft drink. When you bring the bottle back to the shop, you get back your 50 euro cents.

In the supermarkets there are places to return the bottles. You get used to this sytem very quickly. I think 90% of the used bottles are returned to the shops this way. So why not do the same in Singapore?

Straits Times Forum 9 Dec 06
Use biodegradable plastic bags and recycle them
Letter from Ang Hak Heng

I refer to the suggestions by Forum's readers on using plastic bags.

Recently, I came across a biodegradable plastic bag used by a shop in Malaysia. The bag carried the message "Please recycle this bag to save our environment" and a warning, "Safety First: To avoid suffocation, keep this bag away from babies and children".

Perhaps we could also consider using biodegradable plastic bags besides the effort to reduce usage, reuse and recycle them.

Straits Times Forum 9 Dec 06
Take fewer plastic bags, use them to bag trash
Reply from Vincent Teo Hup Ee Chief Engineer (Waste Minimisation) Resource Conservation Department National Environment Agency

I REFER to the letters, 'Waste disposal: How not to use plastic bags?' and 'Charging for plastic bags will cut down on their use' (ST, Dec 4), and thank the writers for their feedback.

The use of plastic bags to bag refuse prior to disposal, especially through refuse chutes, is a good hygiene practice in view of the wet and highly putrescible nature of Singapore's household waste.

Bagging up helps avoid dirtying the chute openings as well as the inner walls of the chute. Clean chute linings as well as openings require less cleaning, and result in a better living environment, not to mention making them less attractive to pests like cockroaches and flies.

Refuse that is properly bagged also helps to contain the unpleasant smell that results from decomposition, which takes place rather quickly in warm climate.

The National Environment Agency has been consistently addressing the issue and we had set up a working group comprising major supermarket chains and the Singapore Environment Council to look into curbing the excessive use of plastic bags.

The group looked at practices in various countries, which ranged from incentive and charging schemes to outright banning of plastic bags. The group recommended that a programme to promote the use of reusable bags, and to raise awareness on the need to conserve resources, should be carried out first, before drastic measures like levying a tax or charging for plastic bags be considered.

As a result, the 'Why waste plastic bags? Use reusable bags!' campaign was launched in February to encourage shoppers to limit the number of plastic bags they would accept, and to use reusable bags as often as they could.

To that end, reusable bags were made available at an affordable price. Whenever the use of plastic bags is unavoidable, cashiers at participating stores are trained to pack more into the bags, as well as to ask customers whether they needed a plastic bag for small purchases.

Changing mindsets and habits is a long-drawn process, more so considering that there will be some minor inconveniences. Regardless of the resistance encountered, we will continue to promote the message of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
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