SINGAPORE – From Monday, shoppers must pay five cents for every plastic bag they take at major supermarket chains when a mandatory charge takes effect.
About 400 outlets, including those operated by FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong and Prime, will be participating in this move. The tally amounts to about two-thirds of all outlets in Singapore. Larger supermarket operators with an annual turnover of more than $100 million fall under the mandate.
In the run-up to the mandatory charge, a Reddit user on June 27 noticed that a FairPrice branch was selling plastic bags in bulk near cashier counters. The user said each cost four cents.
Some netizens reacted, asking if this contradicts the go-green message, but a FairPrice Group spokesman said single-use plastic bags or food-safe bags have been available for purchase for years.
The spokesman added that FairPrice has been encouraging the non-use of plastic bags, with its FairPrice Green Rewards Scheme, which started in 2007 and ran until 2018, offering a 10-cent rebate to customers who spent a minimum of $10 and used their own bags.
The initiative was replaced with a plastic bag management programme.
Since 2019, some FairPrice and Cheers outlets began charging for plastic bags. By 2022, all 178 Cheers and FairPrice Xpress convenience stores, and 11 FairPrice supermarkets, billed for the bags.
The spokesman said this saved 57 million plastic bags in 2022.
FairPrice has also set up Bring Your Own Bag racks in seven outlets to encourage people to donate excess reusable bags for others to use.
The spokesmen for supermarkets including FairPrice, Cold Storage, Sheng Siong and Hao Mart said they have trained staff to educate customers on the charge implementation from Monday.