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Bill on plastic bag charge tabled, shoppers to pay 5 cents or more at most supermarkets from mid-2023 SINGAPORE – From mid-2023, shoppers at most supermarkets will need to pay at least five cents for each disposable carrier bag. Two-thirds of all supermarket outlets in Singapore – including NTUC FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong and Prime – will impose the charge on all materials of disposable bags, including plastic and paper. The upcoming carrier bag charge is among several proposed amendments to the Resource Sustainability Act tabled in Parliament on Monday. The aim of the proposed changes is to reduce packaging and food waste in Singapore. Only 6 per cent of all plastic waste was recycled in Singapore in 2021. The carrier bag charge was first announced in early 2022. The larger supermarket operators that will carry the charge have an annual turnover of more than $100 million and are better resourced to implement the requirements. But smaller operators are encouraged to voluntarily implement their own bag charges, and many such retailers have already done so, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) in a joint statement on Monday. These include The Body Shop as well as Cheers and FairPrice Xpress outlets, which started charging 10 cents for plastic bags per transaction in 2022. “The minimum charge has been kept low to moderate the cost impact on shoppers, while encouraging them to be mindful of the number of disposable carrier bags they take,” the agencies said. For accountability and transparency in the use of the carrier bag charge proceeds, supermarket operators will be required to publish information on the number of bags given to shoppers, the amount of proceeds received from the charge and how the proceeds are used, such as for the support of charitable or environmental causes, they added. In furthering the recycling rate of drink bottles and cans by mid-2024, each beverage will likely cost 10 cents to 20 cents more. This deposit can be refunded when consumers return their used bottles and cans. This is part of the proposed beverage container return scheme. The refund will likely be in the form of a cash or digital transfer, and beverage container return points will be set up at all supermarkets that are larger than 200 sq m. For instance, more than 130 FairPrice stores will participate in the scheme, said a spokesman for the supermarket chain. A public consultation on the proposed return scheme, which had a report published in late 2022, proposed that the scheme include containers that are between 150ml and 3 litres. The bulk of the used cans and bottles is likely to be returned through smart reverse vending machines. The scheme will also support the development of Singapore’s recycling industry, noted NEA and MSE. As part of efforts to tackle food waste, industrial and commercial premises will be required to segregate their food waste, also starting in 2024. These buildings account for about 40 per cent of the food waste generated each year. They will also be required to measure and report the amount of food waste they have segregated for treatment. In 2021, Singapore generated 817,000 tonnes of food waste, of which 19 per cent was recycled. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/carrier-bag-charge-at-larger-supermarkets-to-begin-in-mid-2023

Source: https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/come-monday-say-bye-free-plastic-bags SINGAPORE - From Monday (July 3), 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.

US police video shows newborn found in plastic bag https://www.asiaone.com/world/us-police-video-shows-newborn-found-plastic-bag Jun 27, 2019 / AFP Police in the US state of Georgia have released a poignant video of officers finding an abandoned newborn girl inside a plastic bag, as part of their efforts to find the child's mother. The video, recorded on an officer's body camera and made public on Tuesday, shows sheriff's deputies in Cummings, Georgia discovering the infant tied up in a bag and left by a roadside the night of June 6. They were responding to a caller claiming they heard a baby crying in the woods. The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office "is continuing to investigate & follow leads" regarding the baby, whom they have named India, said the department on Twitter. "By releasing the body cam footage from the discovery of Baby India we hope to receive credible info & find closure." They added that India is "thriving." In the video, a deputy can be heard reassuring the baby as he unwraps her from the plastic bag, saying, "Look at you, sweetheart! Oh, I'm so sorry... look how precious you are." He then hands her to medical first responders, who perform first aid on the infant before wrapping her in a blanket. Authorities have been looking for the girl's mother since June 6, taking to Twitter to ask if anyone in the area knows "a female who was in late stages of pregnancy." Many also took to Twitter to share information about "safe haven" laws, which allow women to leave unharmed infants at designated locations -- such as police stations or hospitals -- without prosecution, thereby making the children wards of the state, so as to prevent another infant getting abandoned. "Omg, the poor thing! Glad she is safe and doing well now," one woman tweeted. Another tweeted she "broke out in tears" when she saw the video because it reminded her of her own infant granddaughter.