Despite the implementation of a mandatory plastic bag charge in local supermarkets in July 2023, recent data reveals that consumers still purchased over 119 million disposable plastic bags in 2024. Interestingly, while approximately 70% of shoppers now bring their own reusable bags to save money and protect the environment, the report notes that overall usage rates have remained relatively flat or even increased slightly. This creates a puzzling contradiction: if the vast majority are switching to reusables, why hasn't there been a significant drop in plastic bag consumption?
To further discourage usage, experts suggest that authorities may need to increase the current five-cent fee to ten cents or introduce more robust reward systems.
Is this news or study a prelude to a mandatory plastic bag charge increase to 10 cents?
