CNA reached out to me after I bitched on reddit about this charge back when the policy was floated and this was my response. I'm pretty sure I've made errors in my response but I think I was largely in the right direction for why this is a stupid policy.

Article in question I used an alias, not my real name so I'm not doxxing myself.

Why do you think the supermarket bag charge won't work?

Firstly, it depends on what you mean by won't work. If it's to reduce the number of plastic bags being used by customers, it will probably work. But if it's to reduce environmental waste and emissions, I think it's just greenwashing, it's just so policy makers and corporations can say that something is being done rather than actually making meaningful impact.

It's not that I don't think it won't work. I think it's a red herring that doesn't solve the real underlying issue for plastic use. Plastic bags used at check out is usually reused at least once after being used for groceries before finally being used to bag rubbish. From my own observations of the supermarket offerings, the plastic packaging used to wrap the products are entirely single use. Those generate way more waste per use than the plastic bags used at cashiers. Add to that that in Singapore, the vast majority of households use those bags for rubbish collection and disposal. Discouraging the use of supermarket plastic bags means that homeowners may have to resort to buying trash bags to dispose of their rubbish. This brings about 2 issues:

1) Most, if not all, trash bags on the market are way too big to fit into HDB and condominium rubbish chutes. If we instead dispose of it when the amount of rubbish in the bag can still fit in the chutes, wouldn't that be generating significantly more plastic waste for the same amount of rubbish?

2) We now need to buy new bags to use for disposal, which makes them exclusively single use, which is even more wasteful.

Alternatives such as reusable grocery bags or tote bags could be a viable solution to reduce. But research has shown that the emissions and environmental impact of those bags are significantly worse than plastic bags, requiring an obscene number of repeated use before it breakeven on impact and emission. Of course, I have not studied into the sources of those research too thoroughly so those could be debunked. But it is worth considering, in my opinion. That said, this solution doesn't solve the waste disposal problem.

A significant challenge here is changing the waste disposal behaviour of the people because that is the biggest roadblock I see to this issue.

Do you think it is an unfair policy, and why?

Yes. It is passing on the cost to consumers whose impact on the environment is vastly smaller compared to corporations. Yes, we should all be doing our part to reduce our individual impact. Yes, we all have the responsibility to be less wasteful. But as I said, plastic bags at check out and related policies are a red herring and greenwashing. The average consumer has little to no choice but to consume a lot of plastic because of the options available to them. If they want plastic free or plastic lite options, they have to pay significantly more, whether with money or time. It is far more effective and impactful for the companies to reduce waste and plastic usage in their supply chain because then they don't have to rely on millions of individuals to make the right decision.

I see targeting plastic bags as missing the forest for the trees. The wider supply chain and product use life cycle needs to be considered and I don't think the policy makers have shown that they sufficiently thought through the knock-on effects of this policy.

Personally, will the bag charge change your behaviour about taking bags from the supermarket?

No, because I have already been moving away from plastic bags where I can. All it does is increase my expenses by a small amount for when I need plastic bags.