"BRING YOUR OWN BAG" CAMPAIGN

"BRING YOUR OWN BAG" CAMPAIGN:

(Impact): 16.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources what impact does the "Bring Your Own Bag" campaign have on the plastic bag industry and will the push to reduce plastic bag usage result in potential problems of refuse collection as most residents are encouraged to throw refuse in plastic bags.

The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Mr Speaker, Sir, Singaporeans use about 2.5 billion plastic bags each year for bagging their purchases. This is equivalent to about 19,000 tonnes of plastic or 0.8% of the total waste disposed of in Singapore annually. Unlike in most countries where plastic bags remain in landfills for years, plastic bags in Singapore are incinerated in our waste-to-energy plants to recover energy.

As pointed out by Dr Lim, many households re-use plastic bags to bag their refuse. This is a good hygiene practice as it prevents spillage when refuse is collected by our waste collectors. Our refuse is usually wet and, in our warm tropical climate, tends to putrefy rapidly, resulting in smell nuisance. Unbagged refuse also attracts pests. The majority of Singaporeans live in high-rise buildings, so bagging our refuse helps to keep the refuse chutes clean and hygienic. Sir, my Ministry has been advocating the practice of re-using plastic bags to bag household refuse and will continue to do so.

Column: 721

Thus, we will not phase out the use of plastic bags now or in the future. However, Sir, we are concerned with excessive and wasteful use of plastic bags. Thus, the National Environment Agency launched the "Why waste plastic bags? Use reusable bags!" campaign in February 2006 to promote the use of reusable bags and reduce the wastage of plastic bags.

More recently, in April 2007, the "Bring Your Own Bag" campaign was also launched in partnership with the Singapore Environment Council and major supermarkets and retailers. Under this campaign, on the first Wednesday of the month, shoppers who do not bring their own shopping bags are encouraged to donate 10 cents for each plastic bag taken at the check-out counters. The "Bring Your Own Bag" campaign should not have any significant impact on the plastic bag industry as we are not banning plastic bags totally but discouraging the excessive and unnecessary use of plastic bags.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak: Mr Speaker, Sir, the protection of the environment is a shared responsibility between consumers as well as the retailers. I would like to ask the Minister: what is the contribution of the participating retailers now to this programme, as they seem to be the beneficiaries of the programme as they save on their plastic bags, while the consumers are made to contribute 10 cents voluntarily? Why not make the retailers encourage the consumers to bring their own plastic bags by offering incentives, like giving discounts or NTUC Linkpoints?

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, we leave this to the retailers to decide. We believe in a persuasive approach, working together with the consumers and the retailers. Some are already doing their

Column: 722

part. Rather than enforcing it through legislation, we think that it is best to leave it to the market. What we want to do is to promote a different sort of culture where we facilitate by making reusable bags available in the market.

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Just a supplementary question. I hope the Minister, in this "Bring Your Own Bag" campaign, could make an extra effort to inform the public that the 10 cents that is being asked is actually going to the Singapore Environment Council and certainly not to the retailers.