Living with less plastic in Singapore

Singapore's plastic bag charge is easy to read as a small, standalone consumer nudge, but understanding it as part of the country's Zero Waste Masterplan reveals something more deliberate: a strategic choice about where to spend limited early political and public-education capital for maximum reach.The problem the masterplan is built …

Since July 2023, Singapore's largest supermarket chains have been required to charge a minimum of 5 cents for every disposable carrier bag handed out at physical checkout counters - a rule that applies specifically to supermarket operators with annual turnover above S$100 million. Within just the first year of the …