The bad bag habit

Straits Times 20 Dec 09;

Even as Singapore pledged to reduce its carbon emission growth in Copenhagen last week, businesses have some catching up to do when it comes to toeing the green line. Goh Chin Lian looks at the oft-criticised bakery business, and others that have done well.

It's a common sight at bakeries: one bag for one bun when you take your tray of bread to the cashier. Then it all goes into a bigger plastic bag.

Environmentalists baulk at this excessive use of plastic, but bakeries say it is for hygiene, and customers want it this way.

Like national serviceman Sean Tan, 20. 'Sometimes I eat the buns on the go or I may share them with my friends. I'm really not that concerned about the environment,' he said.

Crystal Jade said many customers do not like having two items in one bag. The buns may have different toppings or the cream on some of these items may get crushed, said its special assistant to the managing director, Ms Stella To.

Even so, the practice prompted the Packaging Council of Singapore two weeks ago to ask two big chains, BreadTalk and Prima Deli, to reduce the thickness of their plastic bags by about 40 per cent.

The two bakeries are among more than 90 signatories to the government-initiated Singapore Packaging Agreement that commits companies to reduce the weight, size or thickness of materials in packaging.

Both BreadTalk and Prima Deli have yet to decide if they will heed the council's call.

The council's chairman, Mr Albert Lim, told The Sunday Times it is harder to ask bakeries to do away with individual packaging because customers themselves want it.

Finance executive Susie Ng, 48, also prefers to have the buns individually packed. She said: 'We don't need to wash our hands if the buns are in plastic bags. We save on water and sanitising gel.'

Each year, 2.6 billion plastic bags are thrown away in Singapore, estimates the Singapore Environment Council (SEC). Singapore Retailers Association executive director Lau Chuen Wei said while Singapore's retailers are trying to be green, they must also strike a balance to satisfy their not so eco-friendly customers.

Even as supermarkets urge customers to bring their own bags, many are seen using plastic bags as gloves to pick potatoes and chicken, then leaving the bags behind on shelves, she said.

Customers even demand more bags from cashiers or insist that their buys be packed into many separate bags.

Bakeries say they are not indifferent to the green cause. BreadTalk switched to biodegradable plastic bags two years ago. These cost 15 per cent more than conventional plastic bags. Crystal Jade also plans to introduce biodegradable bags, while Four Leaves said it uses thinner plastic bags.

SEC executive director Howard Shaw suggested that bakeries use paper bags made from recycled material or sustainable paper sources.

But bakeries argue that paper is unsuitable for bread with toppings that are oily or wet. The range of recycled paper packaging of a grade that can contain food is limited, said Prima Deli's deputy manager, Ms Pansy Wong. Such packaging also costs 20 to 30 per cent more than conventional food grade paper packaging, she added.

And while Prima Deli says staff are trained to ask customers if they need a plastic bag, most bakeries leave it to customers to take the initiative.

Said BreadTalk's senior vice-president for group branding, Ms Joyce Koh: 'If customers say they don't need a bag or want to put similar products in one bag, we will agree to their requests.'

Retiree Sylvia Low, 64, felt that individual packaging was a convenience that was too hard to give up, even though she has been supporting the green cause in other ways.

For instance, she cleans and dries her used milk cartons for collection by a recycling firm every alternate Tuesday from her Serangoon Gardens house.

She said: 'I reuse the plastic bag. If it's not soiled, we'll put rubbish in it or my maid will use it to wrap fish and put it in the freezer for my cat.'

Ms Lau felt that both retailers and consumers can play a part: Cashiers can ask if they can put more items in a single bag, while customers can request fewer bags.

Mr Thomas Thomas, executive director of the Singapore Compact for Corporate Social Responsibility, a national society helmed by employer and union representatives, urged more companies to report their green efforts according to international standards - from saving energy to responsible sourcing of materials.

Consumers should then reward pro-environment retailers by buying their products.

He said: 'Consumers must put pressure on retailers, but retailers can educate consumers and set the tone.'

Mr Shaw, who was in the Danish capital of Copenhagen for the United Nations climate change conference that ended last Friday, observed the rising consumer expectations abroad for businesses to be environmentally friendly.

Companies in Singapore must decide if they want to be a leader or a laggard on this front, he said.

What about styrofoam containers?
Straits Times Forum 27 Dec 09;

Last Sunday's column, 'The bad bag habit', faults only the humble plastic bag as 'ungreen' and a carbon emissions culprit.

Although I agree we could all do with fewer plastic bags, I find that they are not always the villain they are made out to be.

For example, plastic bags may be reused for storing meat in our freezers, to bag trash, or as gloves, before finally being thrown away.

In fact, there are other undesirable products and behaviour that are not environmentally friendly.

For example, styrofoam cups, bowls and take-away containers are worse for our environment and should be banished. They are non-biodegradable, and worse, they are bulky and quite useless for reuse in other purposes.

Since they were introduced some years back, these styrofoam boxes and cups have quickly spread and taken root in the food and beverage industry, with coffee shops, food centres and even durian sellers using them.

The packaging becomes quite a nuisance as it often turns into windblown litter.

I have often seen these light styrofoam bowls and cups blown helter-skelter on tables, tipping and rolling over and spilling their contents onto the tables and floors.

Another undesirable habit is drivers letting their car engines idle while waiting.

From the very large vehicles to the smallest car, one can easily see them on our roads.

I have come across many cases of drivers running their car engines for more than half an hour.

I wonder whether the National Environment Agency has any concerted programme to discourage this and enforce its rules.

Chan Wai Chong