Supermarket plastic bag charge raises millions of dollars, but questions emerge over fund usage

In the more than two years since Singapore introduced mandatory charges for plastic bags at major supermarkets, the initiative has raised millions of dollars – but not all the money is going where environmental advocates believe it should. If part or all of the proceeds go towards reducing firms’ operational costs, it would be a "clear case of consumers directly increasing the profits for the firms", said Prof Euston Quah, director of NTU's Economic Growth Centre. "When firms are able to pass these costs of carrier bags to consumers and use their proceeds whether to purchase green equipment or pursue green innovation, these would imply that consumers are subsidising firms to grow green," said Prof Quah. "This absolves the firms from their own responsibility to contribute to society's green movement."

Click here to read the article.