Singapore taking 'baby steps' to reduce consumption

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For Chloe Ng, a typical work day involves picking up a takeaway coffee in a polystyrene cup looped with a plastic carrier on her way to the office, and then getting lunch from a nearby hawker centre in a polystyrene box.

Ng knows that single-use disposables are not good for the environment and tries to cut down on them. She carries a reusable bag to store her sweaty exercise gear instead of taking a plastic bag from her spinning studio, and places shopping in her handbag if space permits. She sometimes brings her own cup and container for her coffee and food, but usually forgets to. “Baby steps,” she said.

The 34-year-old merchandiser’s lifestyle is not uncommon. The Singapore Environment Council found that Singaporeans use 467 million PET bottles and 473 million single-use plastic items such as takeaway containers each year. Only 4 per cent of all plastics in 2018 were recycled.

This consumer behaviour contributes to the 1.56 tonnes of waste produced by Singapore households in 2018. About a third of this is single-use items such as plastic bags and food packaging – enough to fill 10 Olympic size swimming pools.

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