Mandatory charging for plastic shopping bags starts

TOKYO: Japan started to require convenience stores, supermarkets, drugstores and other retail outlets to charge for plastic shopping bags yesterday, in line with a global trend of reducing plastic waste to combat marine pollution.

The initiative is aimed at encouraging shoppers to bring their own bags and comes as Japan lags behind other countries in curbing the use of plastics, generating the largest amount of plastic waste per capita after the United States.

But environmental experts have already questioned the significance of solely targeting plastic shopping bags since they account for just an estimated 2% of an annual 9 million tonnes of plastic waste generated in the country.

The coronavirus outbreak may also make consumers reluctant to use the same shopping bag each time out of sanitary concerns, and more willing to pay for store-provided ones.

The law banning free provision of plastic bags leaves the price of a plastic bag up to the retailers. Japan’s three top convenience store operators — SevenEleven Japan Co, Lawson Inc and FamilyMart Co — have started to charge 3 yen (1 baht) to 5 yen a bag.

Some retailers had already stopped distributing free plastic bags, with major supermarket chain operator Aeon Co having started to charge for them at some stores as early as 2007, later expanding the move to other stores.

Bioplastic bags containing 25% or more of plant-derived materials, as well as reusable bags that are 0.05 millimetre thick or more, are not covered by the regulation.

Japan was responsible for the largest amount per capita after the United States, according to the UN.