FIVE-CENT PLASTIC BAG CHARGE AT MOST SUPERMARKETS

Image Credits: CNA

From 3rd July, consumers must pay at least 5 cents for each plastic bag when they shop from large supermarkets. This is part of the Resource Sustainability Bill aimed at reducing food waste and packaging in Singapore.

Sustainability-related initiatives often involve consumers having to change their behaviour from the status quo.

There were mixed reactions online. Some Singaporeans felt that this does not truly tackle packaging waste. Other commentators expressed that Singaporeans are already practising sustainability in their daily lives by reusing plastic bags to take out their trash.

To get consumers to support a new initiative, brands should first understand their pain points, daily challenges, and the changes that will be required.

As such, the fee was seen as a penalty for a sustainable action that people are already living by. Instead, people suggested providing biodegradable bags instead or investing in educating the public around recycling and trash separation.

From there, brands can then shape initiative-related communications around both the big, macro picture (why it’s important) and the small, personal one (what’s needed from whom, what’s in it for them).

*Source: Marketing Interactive

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