NTUC FairPrice's outlet at City Square Mall aims to be a green showcase
Neo Chai Chin, Today Online 11 Dec 09;
SINGAPORE - Call it red carpet treatment for green consumers. Shoppers with their own grocery bags at NTUC FairPrice's City Square Mall supermarket have had two check-out counters dedicated to them since it opened in September.
The outlet also uses biodegradable carriers, collects plastic bottles and drink cans for recycling and offers over 400 environmentally-friendly products such as biodegradable dishwashing liquid, made from natural ingredients.
FairPrice's pilot project - and Singapore's first eco-friendly supermarket - aims to be a green showcase, said Mr Gerry Lee, deputy managing director of group business and chairman of its Green Committee.
If embraced by the public, some initiatives will be extended to its other branches. Already, over 20 new or renovated outlets are using energy-saving lights.
The City Square Mall outlet cost 30 per cent more to set up, but this is partially offset by lower energy bills, said Mr Lee. And with wider adoption, the price of green products might also come down.
For instance, FairPrice's grocery carriers - made from 40 per cent corn and yam and 60 per cent polypropylene, a polymer used in plastic - cost 30 per cent more than the usual plastic bags, but "we hope to ... bring down the price" through economies of scale, said Mr Lee.
The bags degrade after 90 days in a composting facility, according to supplier Olive Green's deputy director Cheryl Leo. The company's disposable crockery and cutlery, CornWare, is also sold at the supermarket.
For eco-cleaning products maker Envizyme, sales were slow initially, chiefly due to pricing. Its dishwashing liquid costs $6.80 per litre, twice that of other brands. But the company has beefed up its marketing efforts, said marketing manager Wang Shaowei.
According to Mr Lee, eco-awareness among consumers has increased slowly but surely over the years.
Since July 2007, when FairPrice joined the Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) movement, it has saved over 43 million plastic bags and given out $500,000 in rebates. Shoppers with their own bags get 10 cents off the bill, and from $10,000 in monthly rebates paid out initially, the amount has doubled.
"We're happy to spend this kind of money in return for fewer carrier bags used," said Mr Lee. About 550,000 reusable bags have been sold to date.
But green consumers are the minority, as MediaCorp observed yesterday during a visit of the outlet. BYOB cash registers were not ringing as frequently, and some shoppers without reusable bags appeared irritated when re-directed to other counters.
"We just have to be patient," said a cashier.
Some shoppers, such as Diana Deng, 62, were impressed by FairPrice's efforts. The retiree said she would try to bring used plastic bottles on her next trip.
Retired policeman Robert Koh also supports the BYOB movement, but would ask for carriers periodically.
"Truth be told, we do need some bags for our rubbish at home," he said.
While FairPrice is the first to have an eco-friendly supermarket, other operators such as Sheng Siong are making progress. One of the latter's outlets now uses LED (light emitting diodes) lighting, and its new $65-million headquarters-cum-distribution centre will be Green Mark-certified when completed in 2011.
Along the Eco-Trail
Neo Chai Chin
a. Reverse Vending Machine and Tetra Pak Recycling Centre
Supplier Wincor Nixdorf is piloting its reverse vending machine at NTUC FairPrice in City Square Mall for six months. About 300 empty plastic drinking bottles and cans are fed into its machine and crushed each day. Tetra Pak is collecting its empty drink packets, which can be recycled into notebooks.
b. Bio-Helper
FairPrice's food waste recycling system breaks down discarded produce such as seafood and vegetables within 24 hours into liquid form, before channelling it into the sewage system.
c. Oxy-degradable bags
With the help of oxygen, FairPrice's transparent biodegradable produce bags decompose into carbon dioxide and water in six months. FairPrice also uses sugarcane pulp-derived fruit trays, instead of Styrofoam trays.
Gearing up for the green lifestyle
City Square Mall kicks off green building exhibition
Joyce Hooi, Business Times 11 Dec 09;
THE public got a taste of how to live and shop greener yesterday, with City Square Mall becoming a hive of activity that befitted its Platinum Green Mark status.
Singapore's first eco-friendly supermarket was launched by NTUC Fairprice, while a green building exhibition was kicked off by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).
The exhibition, which will be featured in eight shopping malls including City Square Mall over a two-year period, includes a model green home that will help people better understand the specifications of green buildings.
'We hope to excite Singaporeans about green living,' said Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education Grace Fu, who officially opened the exhibition yesterday. 'A model green home has been set up to help us better understand the benefits and cost savings.'
Current estimates show that a household living in a green home could save up to $1,800 in utilities and up to $1,000 in property maintenance annually.
The exhibition also explains the use of 3D Building Information Modelling that professionals can use to design, build and manage green buildings. In January 2010, an electronic platform for the industry to submit building plans based on this technology will be introduced by BCA.
In the basement of City Square Mall, the 2,244 square metre pilot eco-friendly FairPrice supermarket was also launched officially yesterday.
This supermarket, which opened in September, uses energy-saving features such as LED lighting, T5 fluorescent tubes, energy-saving refrigeration units and motion sensor lighting control, which add up to a 30 per cent cut in energy consumption.
Customers will be provided with 100 per cent bio-degradable shopping bags.
In keeping with the store's eco-friendly slant, aisles will be packed with more than 400 bio-degradable and environmentally friendly products, such as the Envizyme range of household cleaners from bio-degradable resources and renewable raw materials.
Also in place is an organic waste disposal system called the BioHelper. This system biologically converts solid food waste material into liquid form that can be disposed of safely.
Shoppers will be educated on the green elements of the supermarket through an 'eco-trail' in the form of information panels displayed throughout the store.
'The purpose of the eco-trail is to spur shoppers into being more environmentally aware through our example, and to take positive steps towards eventually protecting the environment in their own way,' said Gerry Lee, deputy managing director for group business and chairman of the green committee at NTUC FairPrice.
FairPrice launches Singapore's first eco-mart
Tessa Wong Straits Times 11 Dec 09;
Shoppers at the eco-friendly supermarket in City Square Mall can enjoy a quick checkout if they bring their own shopping bags. The store also has recycling facilities for cans, bottles and cartons. -- ST PHOTOS: ALPHONSUS CHERN
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THE drive to go green has revved up with the opening of Singapore's first eco-friendly supermarket. But shoppers here seem slow to take part.
Yesterday, NTUC FairPrice, the nation's largest supermarket chain, officially launched its first green supermarket at the eco-themed City Square Mall, along Kitchener Road.
The store carries a wide range of environmentally friendly products such as cutlery made from corn and stationery made from recycled newspapers. It also offers biodegradable plastic bags.
Customers who bring their own shopping bags can use dedicated checkout lanes. There are also collection points for the recycling of beverage cans, bottles and cartons.
Still, when it comes to changing mindsets, FairPrice has some way to go.
Since the store opened in September, shoppers have been filling the recycling machine with items such as shampoo bottles and cardboard instead.
Customers carrying their own bags are a rare sight. A cashier at a reusable bag lane said that on average, she serves fewer than 10 customers an hour, whereas those manning regular lanes see 50.
And while FairPrice has been enthusiastically pushing a new range of biodegradable household products by local firm Envizyme, response has been tepid.
'Sales have been very slow because the line is new and because of the price,' said Envizyme marketing manager Wang Shaowei. Its dishwashing liquid sells for $6.80 a bottle, nearly twice the price of regular brands.
Still, FairPrice is confident that Singaporeans will be won over eventually.
'We believe Singaporeans are growing more environmentally conscious, and they are very aware of our green efforts,' said Mr Gerry Lee, FairPrice's deputy managing director for group business and the chairman of its green committee.
He pointed to the growing success of its Green Rewards scheme, under which customers get 10 cents back whenever they use a reusable bag and spend at least $10. Rebates given out in a month have doubled since 2007, growing from $10,000 to $20,000.
Even though the eco-friendly store cost FairPrice 30 per cent more to build than a regular store, the chain is keen on using this model for future branches.
The store uses 30 per cent less electricity, thanks largely to energy-saving lighting and appliances, which include an organic waste disposal machine.
The chain plans to outfit all its stores with energy-saving features eventually.
As for offering recycling facilities and products like corn bags, 'we will have to see if such green measures are viable for Singaporeans', said Mr Lee.
