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Phasing out (immediate)
We seek to actually reduce usage of plastic in which we try not to use plastic when not needing (eg single use plastic)
- reusable bags to replace plastic bags

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Increased funding for R&D
If the research manages to produce a product that fits governmental environment guidelines but is also cheap and of good quality, the businesses would be appeased as they can use this product without significantly affecting their profits. Hence business owners would support this initiative.
The only concern is whether giving the funding to plastic manufacturers is really the most effective way to ensure that the highest quality product is developed? Plastic manufacturers have an incentive to squeeze out as much profit as possible from their product. Maybe giving the funding to a neutral party like a university would be a better idea.

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Both policies do not directly affect NGOs, although some of the funding could have also been given to the NGOs which lack revenue since majority of organisations are non-profit and lack manpower. NGOs support the plastic taxation policy as it goes along with our aim to reduce plastic waste.

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Poor people may be affected by this policy because they are more likely relying on plastic bags to carry their goods around if they do not own a car or another mode of transport so the tax will impact the poor. the rich are likely indifferent to the plastic tax as they have enough money to pay the tax off.

a solution to this could be to increase the percentage of plastic tax with the increase of income so it makes an impact on people regardless of their income. A grace period could also be given to help people adjust and use more reusable/biodegradable options so they wouldnt be hit that hard. the tax percentage could be increased slowly over a span of a few years so people can get used to the plastic tax.

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Increased funding for R&D for plastic manufacturers
- would be able to provide more sustainable plastic.

However, this does not solve the key issue of the reduction of cutting down on the usage of plastic and will need to be paired with additional policies like the need to recycle or using alternatives instead.
imposing tax
-would be able to decrease the consumers needs for wants
-May not be a very successful change if it does not affect people
-May mean that some companies + people will need to pay more

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Implementation of Plastic Tax
We would not be amiable with this tax, as this would harm manufacturers by increasing the cost of material production. This might be counterproductive towards society, as essential plastic items, like syringes or item packaging, will be made more expensive. In addition, the cost of the plastic tax may trickle down back to the consumer in the long run if both manufacturers and business choose to increase the cost of the products instead of absorbing the costs of the tax.

Increased funding for R&D
This is an integral policy to ensure that R&D for more sustainable uses or ways of usage for plastic can be sustained. Plastic manufacturers will feel that, most importantly, a grant (not a bond) has to be given in order to kickstart the research first; but a bond can be given later on when manufacturers require the capital to recalibrate their machinery. This is so that manufacturers are incentivised to start research on less harmful production of plastic.

The funding can be given to whichever manufacturers provides the government with the most sustainable and cost and environmentally-friendly proposals first, so as to ensure that plastic manufacturers can come up w/ a more certain, and quicker implementation.

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Imposing Plastic Tax
A high plastic tax would greatly increase expenditure on plastic products from businesses, causing small businesses especially to lose significant profit.
Large businesses may be able to absorb the increased costs, but will likely protest the implementation of such a tax if no alternatives or subsidies are provided by the government.
Perhaps the tax could be implemented in a stepped manner, where the tax increases by a small amount every year, giving time for businesses to adapt to the changes

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We would like to increase tax on plastics, to discourage the use of plastics by consumers and to encourager businesses to switch from plastics to more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Alongside that, we also would like to provide subsidies for the manufacturers and the businesses themselves, as taxing the plastics themselves would probably reduce sales of plastics from the manufacturers. For the businesses, switching to the more environmentally friendly alternatives could be at much cost and thus the subsidies are to help businesses cope with this.

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considering the points brought up by the plastic manufacturers that taxing plastic manufacturers limits research and development for more sustainable forms of plastic, our intention would instead to be taxing corporations that choose to continue to use traditional forms of plastic in order to provide an incentive to convert to using more sustainable forms of plastic like bioplastics

1) companies that hit a certain level of plastic use will be taxed accordingly.
2) the tax imposed on traditional plastics would cause corporations to increase their prices and this increased cost will trickle all the way down to their consumers. In order to keep consumers satisfied with the price of goods and not be turned away by the raised price of goods due to the plastic tax, companies will be forced to consider swapping to alternative forms of plastic like bioplastics, which we can hopefully reduce the price of as research and development progresses.

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Higher costs of biodegradable options: Reduced profits for businesses

Pass on costs to the customer?
Apply for government subsidies?

If doing away with plastic bags altogether, might face backlash from customers

Offer plastic bags at a price? (money collected donated to environmental NGOs)

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Increased funding for R&D for plastic manufacturers

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Increased funding for R&D for plastic manufacturers

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Funding (and time) should be given for plastic manufacturers that have shown their interests and capabilities to reinvent more sustainable forms of plastic.

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Excessive plastic waste can cause negative impacts on the environment. Singapore has been having an increasing amount of plastic waste in the recent years. If action is not taken, our environment will face increasing amount of harm.

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food safety and quality may be compromised

(Professor of environmental economics at Nanyang Technological University Euston Quah believes) eliminating plastic packaging completely in supermarkets is not practical and could cause problems elsewhere. “Paper for wrapping can tear easily and hygiene could be compromised.

“Bringing your own bags can also result in contamination, especially when people do not wash their bags often, which is also at the expense of water resources.”

customers are likely to abuse packaging-free fresh produce, because Singaporeans tend to try and pick the nicer looking fruits and vegetables, which may damage others lost in the shuffle.

consumers and businesses might be unwilling to pay more for alternatives to plastic

Whether our solution might backfire (affect other stakeholders, bring more harm than benefits)

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To the greatest extent possible, reduce the usage of plastics
We are open to keeping single use plastics when necessary (e.g. food packaging for hygiene)

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1. Hand out free reusable bags to reduce plastic waste from plastic grocery bags.

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1. Lack of awareness

2. Lack of cooperation (unwilling to give up advantages of plastic eg. convenience)

3. Limitations of resources (recycling)

4. Over Reliance on plastic products that is difficult for people to forgo (convenience, also unaware of the problems only 1 plastic bag causes.Will require a large scale change people are not comfortable with  )(culture)

5. Culture (Singaporeans culture, do not care)

6. Lack of incentives to reduce plastic usage

7. Lack of concern ( people feel like its not their job to reduce plastic waste)

8. Bystander effect (feel that other people will reduce plastic waste and they don't need to play their part)

9. Lack of cheap alternatives, inability to avoid plastics.

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1. Might not be sustainable in the long run because if production companies keep cutting profits, they might not be willing to continue producing biodegradable or environmentally friendly products
2. Not all consumers may be willing to pay more money for more environmentally friendly alternatives
3. People who are used to using plastic and disposing of it on a daily basis may be unwilling to change their habits
4. We may not be capable of mass producing alternatives to plastics and this may be very costly which many people are not willing to invest their money and time into.
5. The profits of businesses that use large amounts of plastic may be affected resulting in non-compliance/raising in overall costs resulting in unhappiness from all sides.

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1. Some people may not have other more convenient means to carry their stuff
2. some people are ignorant of the issue as it is not affecting them
3. it is inconvenient to change the lifestyle that consumers have been so used to

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1. Governmental subsidies for businesses who take action to reduce plastic waste
2.

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1.  Not all plastics are recyclable
2.  Could a policy affect the economy negatively
3. The profits of plastic manufacturers may be affected

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Incentives (for every certain amount of waste recycled, give incentive, might be difficult due to high manpower needed, eg. 3r rewarding system to ensure compliance towards recycling (for private sector) through recognizing business sectors who have contributed significantly to reducing waste eg. having a solid waste policy, have they used the 3Rs. eg. vouchers ) better option as make recycling easier doesn't solve the root cause in the long run.

More recycling bins placed around neighborhood

However, this may be ineffective as people have abused recycling bins and thrown materials unsuitable for recycling inside

Raising public awareness through education

Forcing consumers to pay for plastic bags

- may be ineffective as people abuse employees as they are unwilling to pay, or just pay anyway cos its not a big issue to them, which does not help reduce wastage

Fines (eg, tax on plastic)

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1. Provide free reusable bags for consumers
2. Provide discounts if we do not ask for plastic bags
3. Use Plastic straws as an alternative but the cost should remain the same
4. Make use of education to inform people that recycling bins are only meant for items that should be recycled
5. Place a rubbish bin in close proximity to a recycling bin
6. Advertise the sale and use of reusable bags in supermarkets
7. For food courts to remove  disposable plastic containers for takeaway and instead only entertain takeaway orders when people bring their own reusable tumblrs and containers

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1. Increase the amount of investment for RnD for more sustainable forms of plastic

2. Increase consumer awareness about recycling waste so that any development on the manufacturer's side will not be wasted

3. Do not implement taxes- they do not help at all

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1. The reduction of plastic waste by businesses and retailers will very likely decrease profit.
-Consumers tend to prefer convenience and will continue to use plastic bags, even if they have to pay extra.
-Plastic packaging can maintain the appearance of food (prevent scratches/damage). Not using them may discourage consumers from purchasing certain foods, considering many are particular about food's appearance.

2. Reducing plastic waste may lead to an increase in food waste, as plastic is used to preserve certain foods and extend their shelf life (i.e. food may have to be disposed of earlier).

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1. Taxes or any economic measure against us would harm investors and employees
2. Being wronged in the sense that we are the people who are to blame for plastic waste- this is not the case
3. Not enough time and money provided for R&D

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1. Lack of concern for long term impacts  (doesn't affect them now so it doesn't matter)

2. People tend not to look at long term consequences

3. Ageing Population - Conventional Culture.

4. People are unwilling to take the effort to recycle - convenience.

5. People are unaware of the large extent of plastic used in Singapore

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Briefly describe the policy:

1. the components of the policy option

2. How the option addresses the issue identified

3. The benefits/drawbacks of the option if implemented

4. Ways to mitigate the negative impact

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Evaluate the policy using appropriate criteria. The assessment of the options should be rigourous:

able to identify benefits

able to identify drawbacks/trade offs

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State the parties involved in the implementation

How will the party/parties involved implement the policy?

What is the implementation timeline?

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If you have time to propose more than one policy, recommend which should be implemented and explain why it is a better policy.