Latest news with #plasticbags
CNA
08-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Commentary: Plastic bags are back at Don Don Donki – but consumer attitudes to disposables have changed
SINGAPORE: Don Don Donki's decision to re-introduce plastic bags, seven months after it stopped selling them, was welcomed online. Facebook users commented that they had stopped shopping at Donki because it was too inconvenient to carry their purchases without plastic bags. Though Don Don Donki's move to sell plastic bags again suggests shoppers still need the option, it does not mean that Singapore consumers are refusing to adopt package-free habits. There has been a heartening change in attitudes over the last decade. As advocates for reuse culture, we observed in 2015 that at supermarkets, customers would take more plastic bags than needed for bagging waste, and throw away those not needed without a second thought. This is no longer the case today. A resident told us that she reuses some of her smaller plastic bags – like bread bags – to contain food waste, which allows her to use fewer disposables over time. We are at the stage of becoming waste-conscious – aware of how much we generate and how it is handled. This knowledge shapes our behaviour whenever we shop or dine. Though there is a general lack of impetus to reuse in Singapore for now, being waste-conscious compels us to make sustainable choices out of practical or economic reasons. This is the first step towards mindful consumption – where we not only reduce, reuse and recycle, but also refuse. A SHIFT IN MINDSET When Don Don Donki discontinued plastic bags in October 2024, customers reacted negatively. Some argued that being made to buy a reusable bag if they forget to bring one is also a wasteful practice. This highlights the importance of easing consumers into new habits. For instance, supermarkets could provide racks where shoppers can donate reusable bags for others to use. Fairprice rolled out this initiative across several outlets in 2023, in addition to putting up posters to encourage customers to bring their own bags. Similarly, Singapore's introduction of a plastic bag charge in July 2023 was initially met with complaints, but eventually led to significant waste reduction. By the end of 2023, supermarkets saw up to 80 per cent fewer disposable bags taken by consumers, showing that people can adapt if nudged effectively. Some consumers have responded to the bag charge by buying plastic bags elsewhere. While this might seem counterproductive, it signals a shift in mindset because disposable bags were previously never considered an everyday purchase. This new mindset is important because we will want to conserve the usage of items that we buy, instead of casually wasting it. The positive effect of this is evident from Singapore's decreasing domestic waste per capita, which has fallen by more than 15 per cent over the last decade. BIODEGRADABLES ARE ONLY GREEN IN NAME Biodegradable bags are often viewed as a greener alternative to plastic, but in Singapore's context, this is misleading. Our waste system is based on incineration, which means all waste – whether plastic or biodegradable – is burnt before being buried in our only landfill at Semakau. This landfill is projected to be full by 2035. Because biodegradable waste is not separated or composted, it ends up being incinerated just like any other trash. Worse still, producing biodegradable bags often requires more resources than making plastic ones, due to land use and manufacturing processes. The environmental cost of producing these 'green' bags can sometimes outweigh the benefits. As a result, biodegradable bags may do more harm than good if not properly processed – which Singapore currently lacks the infrastructure for. Organisations must be careful not to promote biodegradables without accounting for their full environmental impact. If they do, their messaging risks bordering on greenwashing. The most effective way to reduce plastic waste in Singapore remains the use of reusables, coupled with public education around the full life cycle of consumer products. Informed consumers can then make smarter decisions when purchasing and disposing of items. CHANGE FROM THE GROUND UP Habits will take time to form, with teething issues being part of the process. Every act of reuse chips away at our culture of disposability and influences how businesses respond. If enough people refuse plastic bags, carry reusable bottles, or sort their recyclables, businesses will take notice. Going green requires a rethinking of our daily choices, but sustainability is not about being perfect – it's about being consistent. We ran a 6-month pilot in Queenstown to test the belief that elderly residents are the least likely to recycle. But by the end of the pilot in 2023, we found the opposite. Once participants were shown how to recycle properly, many picked it up quickly. If you think about your own grandparents, you may realise they do have the habit of saving recyclables like paper or washed containers. What surprised us most was how invested the participants became: They formed their own informal watch group to remind neighbours to recycle. It was a heartening reminder that the needle is moving, even in generations that we assume are stubborn. All in all, business or government policies on reducing waste are a first step, but real behavioural change comes through understanding – not just the 'what', but the 'why'. Consumers need a realistic transition period to adjust and integrate new habits into their lives.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers move forward on bill banning common grocery store item: 'They add unnecessary costs'
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill into law banning thick, reusable plastic bags from being used at grocery stores, restaurants, and retail outlets, The Oregonian reported. State Sen. Janeen Sollman, a Democrat from Hillsboro and the bill's chief sponsor, explained that "wasteful disposable plastics like thick plastic checkout bags aren't just annoying for consumers, they add unnecessary costs to our Oregon businesses, and are contributing to an ever increasing pile of plastic trash that is harming the environment and public health." Plastic bags are, indeed, harmful to the environment. After typically being used just once, they end up in landfills, where they can take up to 1,000 years to break down. The intention behind the thicker reusable bags was to steer consumers toward using them multiple times, thus eliminating more single-use plastic bags, but few people reuse them. Critics of plastic bag bans are concerned that they may lead to an increase in the purchase and usage of other types of plastic bags, but studies have shown that bans are effective in cutting down the overall usage of plastic bags. The manufacturing of plastic bags contributes to planet-warming pollution, so demand for them increases the problem that bans are trying to solve. When plastic bags are not disposed of properly, they often end up in bodies of water or caught in tree branches, posing a threat to wildlife and causing additional harm to the environment. The Ocean Conservancy reported that plastic bags are the most common form of single-use plastics found by International Coastal Cleanup volunteers. In addition to the plastic bags harming marine life, microplastics that result from the bags breaking down can be ingested by marine animals, compounding the threat. The Oregon ban is part of efforts by individual states to reduce the environmental impact of plastic bags. California has banned all plastic grocery bags to encourage the use of paper bags or reusable bags. Twelve states have some form of statewide ban on plastic bags. Charging money for them is one deterrent that has reduced usage in the United Kingdom. The growing awareness of the negative effects of plastic bags on ecosystems has inspired individuals and governments to take action. By opting for reusable bags when we shop and helping spread the word about the harm single-use plastic bags bring to the environment, we can be part of the solution. Should the government ban gas stoves? Yes Only in new buildings Only in restaurants No way Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The plastic bag tax started 10 years ago to stop pollution. But is it actually working?
Ten years ago, the way Britons carried groceries home changed forever, with the dawn of the plastic bag charge, then set at a relatively paltry five pence. The measure, which mandated a charge on all single-use plastic bags in supermarkets, came into force in October 2015. The move had been announced in 2013, with ministers pointing to the fact that seven billion single-use bags were issued in 2012. The adoption of a ban in England followed similar measures in Scotland and Ireland, where ministers said the rule cut the use of bags by 80%. Then-deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said at the time, 'Plastic carrier bags blight our towns and countryside. They take hundreds of years to degrade and can kill animals. 'This is not a new problem. We've waited too long for action. That's why I am drawing a line under the issue now. The charge will be implemented sensibly - small businesses will be exempt. 'We will discuss with retailers how the money raised should be spent but I call on them to follow the lead of industry in Wales and donate the proceeds to charity.' The ban meant that single-use packaging was banned for all shopping, with exemptions for items such as uncooked meat and live fish. The bag ban provoked varying reactions among the public, with one young man taking a £1 supermarket trolley home instead of paying the 5p charge, and commemorating the event with a tattoo, which he said was 'for the bants'. Others fretted that the ban on single-use bags would see reusable bags used once instead, and environmental campaigners felt it did not go far enough, calling for the ban to apply to smaller businesses with fewer than 250 employees. David Powell, senior resources campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: 'The English charge is a good start, but it makes no sense that it only applies to big retailers. Shoppers will get mixed messages depending on where they shop. This could defeat the main point of the charge in the first place – to change the way people and stores think about over-using plastic bags.' From May 2021, the price of a single-use bag increased to 10p and was applied to all retailers. More than 100 countries have now either introduced fees on single-use plastic bags, or bans on their use. Figures announced in 2023 showed that the ban had prevented seven billion plastic bags entering the environment, with usage at the main retailers dropping 98%. The average person now buys two single-use carrier bags per year, compared to 140 in 2014. But an American study this year was able to quantify the impact of bag bans in the real world, by measuring the difference between areas that have bag bans or fees, and those that don't. The University of Delaware researchers say that around a third of Americans live in areas with plastic ban measures in place. The researchers used data from shoreline cleanup projects, and compared plastic levels in the area from before and after bans or fees were introduced. The researchers found that the introduction of plastic bag policies led to a decrease of between 25% and 47% in the percentage of bags in shoreline waste cleaned up by volunteers. The researchers investigated 600 different bag bans and fees in different areas, which came into force between 2007 and 2023. Associate professor Kimberly Oremus said: "There are so many pathways a bag can take from the checkout line at the store. It's great to see a policy that works in such a clearly measurable way." Strangely, the researchers found that fees are actually more effective than bans in reducing plastic pollution, although they say more research is needed to understand why. Researchers say that even in places with bag bans, plastic bag pollution is increasing. The percentage of plastic bags is increasing everywhere, both in places with bans and without. In places with bans, the pollution is increasing more slowly, the researchers observed. Oremus said: "We're still getting more plastic bags on shorelines as a percentage of all the cleanup items over time. "It's not eliminating the problem, it's just making it grow more slowly." The researchers said that plastic bag policies are effective, but more needs to be done. Despite plastic bans, shoreline pollution is increasing in the UK, with a rise of 9.5% in 2024 compared to 2023, according to the Marine Conservation Society. Volunteers picked up three-quarters of a million items from beaches, with items polluting beaches at a rate of almost two items per square metre.
Reuters
24-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Italy regulator fines Eni and its plastics unit 32 mln euros for market abuse
MILAN, June 24 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority said on Tuesday it had imposed fines exceeding 32 million euros ($37.18 million) on energy company Eni ( opens new tab and its plastics unit Novamont for abuse of a dominant market position in the production of plastic bags. Novamont, which makes bioplastics, employed practices aimed at excluding competitors in domestic markets for raw materials used to produce light and ultra-light bags for fruits and vegetables, the regulator said in a statement. It fined Eni 1.7 million euros, while Novamont faced penalties totalling 30.4 million euros for market abuse spanning from at least January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2023. Eni will issue a statement in response to the antitrust ruling, a spokesperson said. ($1 = 0.8607 euros)
Fast Company
20-06-2025
- Science
- Fast Company
Thanks to bans and fees, there are fewer plastic bags littering beaches
It turns out eliminating the 'paper or plastic' question through plastic bag regulation is effectively reducing the number of bags found in shoreline litter across the United States. A new analysis of shoreline cleanup data finds that areas with plastic bag bans or consumer fees have fewer bags turning up in their litter. The research offers some of the strongest evidence yet that regulating plastic bag use makes a difference in reducing the amount of plastic waste in marine ecosystems. A heightened threat to marine wildlife 'We find, largely, that all the regulations do show a decrease in plastic bag litter as a share of total litter on these shores,' says Kimberly Oremus, co-author of the research paper and an assistant professor of marine science and policy at the University of Delaware. The total reduction ranged between 25% and 47%, the study found. About 20 metric tons of plastic end up in the environment each year, estimates the International Union for Conservation of Nature—that amounts to over 2.4 kilograms of plastic for each person on Earth. Plastic bags are particularly prevalent in marine ecosystems. They are very difficult to recycle and, because they are lightweight and have a large surface area for wind to catch, they blow out of the trash and into the environment at higher rates than other plastic items, says Erin Murphy, the ocean plastics science and research manager at the environmental advocacy nonprofit Ocean Conservancy, who was not involved in the research. She added that in 2024 alone, the conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup volunteers gathered up more than a million plastic bags. In addition to getting into the environment at high rates, plastic bags also pose a heightened threat to marine wildlife. Wildlife can become entangled in or smothered by these bags or can mistake them for food, like jellyfish, a favorite among many species. These interactions with plastic can lead to the deaths of endangered and common animals alike and can even contribute to broader population declines. Counting the plastic bags 'One big challenge in studying the effects and regulations of plastics is actually measuring this pollutant in the environment,' says Anna Papp, co-author of the research paper. To overcome this challenge, the study used crowd-funded data from beach cleanups. The data was collected by the Ocean Conservancy as part of their Trash Information and Data for Education and Solutions (TIDES) project. Nearly 19 million people have participated in the data collection worldwide. The study also examined plastic bag policies at various geographical scales between 2017 and 2023. The earliest plastic bag policies in the U.S. were implemented around 2007, researchers say, but an uptick in the mid-2010s more directly led to the policies analyzed in the study. While the data provides insight into how the share of plastic bags found among shoreline litter has changed due to policy measures, an important caveat remains: Plastic litter has been increasing overall. Plastic production doubled from 234 million to 460 million tons between 2000 and 2019—and without mitigation, it is only expected to rise, according to a recent report from the French-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Some regulations are better than others Still, the researchers noted that not all regulations worked equally well. Total bans and consumer fees resulted in greater decreases than partial bans, which still allow businesses to use thicker, potentially reusable plastic bags. The researchers also found that regulation was most effective in places that had a high baseline of plastic bag litter before the bans or fees went into place. The study data seems to indicate that consumer fees were the most effective option for mitigating plastic bag litter, though the paper's authors say more research is needed to confirm this finding. 'These policies are effective, but they're not a panacea for all plastic litter,' Oremus said. 'Anyone who's looking at regulations for plastic broadly needs to think beyond just the consumption side of plastic.'
