Hello! Today I will be talking about Singapore’s effort in trying to reduce wastage from not just fast food restaurants but from F&B establishments in general! I will also be talking about the challenges Singapore has faced in this matter, especially during this period of COVID-19. As mentioned previously, packaging from fast food restaurants detrimental effects on the environment as they are mostly single-usage disposable packaging and plastics. They are used mainly for their convenience. So how does this apply to Singapore?

In Singapore, packaging makes up 1/3 of our domestic waste and it is estimated that 95% of plastics (value of SGD157 billion) is discarded after being used once (Singapore Environment Council, 2018). Businesses in Singapore that introduce these plastics to the market are not held accountable. Furthermore, recycling rate in Singapore has fallen from 11% in 2013  to 6% in 2017 (Singapore Environment Council, 2018). This is undesirable as these plastics are not biodegradable and if they end up in the ocean, they can cause harmful primary and secondary pollution to our oceans and the marine life that resides in it. Not only that, even the removal of these plastics through incineration would lead to harmful air pollutants being produced and released into the air. So instead of reusing and recycling these disposables and packagings, what else can be done?

In 2019, the National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore has launched the ‘Say YES to Waste Less’ initiative which works with F&B outlets and companies to reduce food wastage and consumption of disposables! Here is a Music Video released by NEA:

Source: Youtube (CleanGreenSingapore, 2019)

For the Say YES campaign, nearly 100 partners have agreed to reduce waste through different methods implemented that vary from company to company. For example, 4FINGERS fast food chain has removed plastic straw dispensers to discourage consumers from using straws. Even in Koi, they encourage customers to bring their own bottles to reduce the usage of their plastic cups (NEA, 2020).

Starbucks offer discounts to customers for bringing reusable cups or selling its side dishes (Gallego-Schmid, Mendoza and Azapagic, 2019). For example, in Singapore, Starbucks offer a 50 cent discounts to customers who decide to bring their own drinks (Starbucks, n.d.).

However, during this period, some restaurants are not allowing the usage of reusable containers due to hygiene reasons, this includes Starbucks and Koi. For example Koi, they do not allow for customers to not use their own cups as they are afraid of contamination and they are unsure if the cups are cleaned properly. Especially during this period of COVID, restaurants are more fearful of the spread of the virus (Channel News Asia, 2020).

According to Straits Times, it was found that Singapore households generated additional; 1,334 tonnes of plastic waste during the circuit-breaker period (Elangovan, 2020). This is due to the increase in delivery, takeaway meals and frequency online grocery shopping. Hence, this is extremely disheartening. Personally, I feel that it not only takes policy makers to fix this problem, but the education of the general public to help reduce and mitigate the problem of food wastage. In the next blogpost I will be talking about possible ways that I feel could provide sustainable habits to reduce the amount of wastage we produce.

Reference:

Channel News Asia, 2020. Bring your own containers take a backseat at some eateries amid COVID-19 pandemic. [online] Available at: <https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid-19-bring-your-own-containers-risk-12840422> 

Elangovan, N., 2020. Singapore households generated additional 1,334 tonnes of plastic waste during circuit breaker: Today Online, [online] Available at: <https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-households-generated-additional-1334-tonnes-plastic-waste-during-circuit-breaker>.

Gallego-Schmid, A., Mendoza, J. and Azapagic, A., 2019. Environmental impacts of takeaway food containers. Journal of Cleaner Production, 211, pp.417-427.

 National Environment Agency, 2020. News Releases. [online] Nea.gov.sg. Available at: <https://www.nea.gov.sg/media/news/news/index/close-to-100-partners-over-2100-owners-of-premises-have-pledged-to-say-yes-to-waste-less-this-year>

Starbucks, n.d. Going Green With Starbucks – Starbucks Coffee Company. [online] Starbucks.com.sg. Available at: <https://www.starbucks.com.sg/about-us/social-impact/going-green-with-starbucks>

Singapore Environment Council, 2018. Consumer Plastic And Plastic Resource Ecosystem In Singapore. Singapore: Singapore Environment Council.

Youtube Video:

CleanGreenSingapore, 2019. Say YES To Waste Less MV. [image] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjlT5GsxNno&ab_channel=CleanGreenSingapore>

Featured Image:

Mclean, E., 2020. [image] Available at: <https://unsplash.com/s/photos/takeaway-food> [Accessed 9 November 2020].