Singapore supermarket chain kicks off plastic bag fee

SINGAPORE: On January 1, a plastic bag charge was kicked in at all NTUC FairPrice convenience stores.

The grocery store chain was the first supermarket chain in Singapore to implement a plastic bag charge. The fee is S $0.20 per transaction at supermarkets and S $0.10 per transaction at convenience stores.

Retail store BHG Singapore has recently announced a similar per transaction fee for the use of plastic bags. This is a move by businesses to discourage consumers from using plastic bags.

There are two obvious benefits of charging fees for the use of plastic bags, based on consumer psychology.

The supermarkets and retail stores that give plastic bags used to be the default, which consumers tend to stick to. Charging a fee for plastic bags removes it as a default option, allowing consumers to explore more eco-friendly alternatives such as reusable shopping bags.

A theory known as operant conditioning suggests rewards reinforce a specific behavior while punishments decrease that behavior.

A tax on plastic bags is a classic form of punishment that should discourage consumers from using them, since incurring a financial cost is a negative one.