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  Today Online 15 Dec 06
Bags of trouble
 We need a fee for the use of plastic carrier bags
Letter from Tan Choon Ming

Opinions on the best way to limit the use of plastic bags have been exchanged in the press over the years. The debate pits public education and voluntary action against the pegging of a surcharge on plastic bag use. I support the latter.

A neighbourhood littered with plastic bags should remind an environmentally-aware person to cut down on his use of plastic bags. Take away the acute problem and the person might return to his natural habit of convenience. This gives rise to the need to invest in repeated education.

A visible price tag on the plastic bag will serve as a constant reminder.

Monetary disincentives and incentives have been employed all the time to create a quality ethical living environment.

Paying to litter is an example. Developers pay to chop protected trees. A driver pays if his car emits black smoke. At home, water usage entails a conservation tax, and we pay to use electricity.

Power cost is pegged to the price of crude oil, which is a non-renewable resource. And not coincidentally, it is from this very same resource that we derive the plastic bag.

So, shouldn't we also be paying for using plastic bags? Is the environmental impact of plastic bag use not as important as that of burning fuel oil or littering?

Nations around the world have been acknowledging such an impact by charging for the use of plastic bags. Some have even resorted to a ban. Is the situation here so special that plastic bags do not cause pollution or resource depletion?

Pollution caused by plastic bag litter in Singapore is hard to spot unless one wakes up early the day after a public holiday and visits a public space. Contract cleaners efficiently clear the litter away from public view.

The environmental experience is very different along the coastal areas, though. In years past, I used to take students out for coastal clean-ups. I would select areas not covered by contract cleaners, and the quantity and diversity of litter we collected was an education in itself.

Plastic bags were a major part of our garbage haul. Sometimes these bags drape tree branches, creating a multi-coloured eyesore.

An efficient waste disposal system and large petrochemical base are some of the often-heard reasons for not wanting to charge for plastic bags.

Another oft-quoted argument is the unnecessary cost burden on businesses. But isn't the Goods and Services Tax (GST) described as a business burden too? Yet, businesses have demonstrated versatility in incorporating GST into their operations.

To put it in perspective, by using for example a $10 purchase: The cost of one or even two plastic bags at 10 or 20 cents each is not more than the current 5 per cent GST. What about the operational cost of having to administer the 10-cent charge on the plastic bag? That can be solved by making the plastic bag a sales item, not a free item, and tallying it on the bill at the checkout counter.

Clearly, the plastic bag charging system generates revenue. According to past reports, about one million plastic bags are consumed here every day. At the hypothetical price of 10 cents apiece, a potential annual fund of $36.5 million can be made available.

Apparently, the system pays for itself.

A non-profit non-government organisation can be created to oversee the system. After deducting the costs for system set-up, retailer plastic bag administration expenses, and auditing, there will still be money left over to educate students and the public on waste and recycling.

Some of the money can be used to fund local research into the use of alternative polymers in carrier bag manufacturing.

Pegging a price to the bag does not seem a daunting task after all. Consumers will start to notice the seemingly innocuous bag, plastic pollution will go down somewhat, resources will be conserved, and the industry will be encouraged to invent new applications.

Importantly, our conventional accounting system can finally capture the elusive plastic bag usage variable. Hopefully in time, financial ratios such as Earnings Per Share or Return On Capital Employed will be read alongside Earnings Per Bag or Return On Bags Employed in judging the performance of businesses.
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