#1 Singaporean response to a plastic bag charge

#1 Singaporean response to a plastic bag charge

#1 Singaporean response to a plastic bag charge:

"Die lah! No more free bags to bag my waste to throw in the rubbish chute, my flat is going to stink and pests will crawl all over, it's the end of the world!"

Our response:

Relac lah, bro and sis, the plastic bag charge policy can be designed such that certain bags are exempted from the charge for hygiene and safety reasons which means you still have some FREE bags although not as many compared to the past. Heng ah, you can still use these free bags to bag your waste!

In fact, some countries that have implemented a plastic bag charge have exempted these bags from the charge:

1. Bags used for carrying food without packaging

2. Bags used for carrying frozen or chilled food

3. Bags used for carrying food in non-airtight or unsealed packaging

4. Bags used for carrying prescription medicines

You can also use the plastic packaging that comes with other food or products for bagging your waste, such as the outer bulk packaging for coffee sachets, bread bag packaging, etc. As a famous contractor used to say, “Use your brain and be creative.

Also remember that the smell and pest problems are caused by food waste, so we should bag food waste using the limited plastic bags (that we still get for free) or other plastic packaging. All other items that are recyclable such as clean and dry paper, plastic bottles, metal cans and glass bottles should be recycled via the recycling bins in your estate and not disposed in the chute. Other non-food and non-hazardous items that are not recyclable can be thrown into the chute without bagging.

If you have too much waste in your house that you don't have enough bags to bag your waste, your first concern should not be whether you have enough bags, but why you generate so much waste and if you could reduce the waste generated.

So to double confirm, remember these 3 steps:

1. Bring your own reusable bags when shopping.

2. Use the plastic bags that are exempted from the charge or other plastic packaging to bag your waste at home.

3. If you really run out of plastic bags for bagging waste, take just enough plastic bags when shopping and pay for them.