A new program at one Taichung market encourages patrons to bring their own reusable bags.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/05/06
By: Madeleine Work

Credit: Michael Rehfeldt / CC BY 2.0

A hodgepodge of canvas bags and reused plastic bags fill the lanes of check-out lines at Taiwanese grocery stores, as shoppers dutifully avoid the NT$2 charge for store-issued plastic bags – part of Taiwan’s policy to reduce single-use plastics, which first took effect in 2002.

On January 1, 2018, Taiwan took this ban against free plastic bags even further. While the original policy only banned large-scale retailers such as grocery and convenience stores from providing free plastic bags, the most recent ban expanded this to include seven new types of retailers, including bakeries, beverage shops and bookstores.

As a result of this new policy, the EPA reports that 70 percent of customers chose not to purchase a bag, resulting in a massive reduction of plastic bag consumption.

Looking at these trends, it would seem as if Taiwan is well on track to achieve its ambitious goal of completely banning single-use plastic cups, straws, and bags by 2030 – which, if successful, will be the most comprehensive plastic-reduction policy in the world.    [FULL  STORY]