The Ministry works closely with the National Environment Agency (NEA), to engage environmental groups and retailers to implement ground-up initiatives, to reduce the consumption of plastic bags. NEA continues to step up collaboration with organisations to implement outreach and publicity initiatives that encourage consumers to only take what they need, and bring their own reusable bags and containers.
NEA commissioned a life-cycle assessment study, which found that alternatives to plastic bags, including paper bags and biodegradable bags, also have negative environmental effects. Substituting plastics with these alternatives may not lead to better environmental outcomes. Hence, a more sustainable approach is to tackle the excessive consumption of all types of packaging waste, including plastic.
NEA will be implementing the mandatory packaging reporting in 2020. Businesses that place packaging on the consumer market will be required to report annually on the types and amounts of packaging materials they are placing on the market, and their packaging waste reduction plans. This aims to bring greater awareness to companies on the potential for waste reduction within their business operations and spur them to take action to reduce the amount of packaging used and packaging waste disposed of.
The Singapore Packaging Agreement (SPA) was also launched as a joint initiative by the Government, industry and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to reduce packaging waste, which constitutes about one-third by weight of Singapore’s domestic waste. The agreement provides flexibility for the industry to adopt cost-effective solutions to reduce waste. Companies which are interested to join the agreement, or would like to find out more information about the SPA, may visit NEA’s website here.
Individuals can also make a positive difference by consciously choosing to use fewer plastic bags, using reusables instead of disposables, recycling plastic waste, and choosing products with reduced packaging.
Through this multi-pronged approach and collective measures by various stakeholders, we hope to reduce the amount of waste generated in Singapore.