Commentary: Singapore has seen less plastic bag usage. Why not the same for food containers?

This indicates that there’s a higher barrier to implementation for takeaway containers. Consumers generally dabao often, and it’s much bulkier to have your own utensils, breakfast box, and bottle outside compared to a few shopping bags. In addition, shopping bags do n’t need to be washed after use, unlike reusables that have stored noodle soup or milky coffee.

The evidence suggests that just financial incentives wo n’t do the trick. If we want to address Singapore’s biodegradable waste issue, the change needs to be more widespread and essential. So how can we change the needles?

SYSTEM CHANGE, NOT PRODUCT CHANGE

Plastic plastic in particular are frequently the most underrated, but another single-use options also come with similar economic risks. For instance, paper-based products frequently have a larger carbon footprint and need more tools to produce than cheap package.

The” biodegradable” or “biodegradable” industry is sick- defined, and because most misuse is incinerated in Singapore, the economic benefits of these elements are not realised.

Washable package is provided by businesses like ours as a support, making it accessible at the point of sale and ensuring that it is cleaned after returning it. Over 600 individuals borrowed and returned almost 10,000 reusable containers in Muuse’s pilot program at the Hawker Centre at Our Tampines Hub over the course of ten months, the equivalent of the number of single-use containers used in 19 days at the stall center.

What prevents activities like these from scaling up?