SINGAPORE — Bakery chain BreadTalk said on Tuesday (Nov 5) it is stepping up efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags, as a national push to cut plastic waste gathers pace.

BreadTalk said that from Nov 15, it will be running a three-month trial at five of its outlets — at City Square Mall, Funan mall, Jewel Changi Airport, Marina Bay Sands and Westgate — using a new food bag.

The new bag eliminates the need to place individual bread items in separate bags and can pack up to three bread items each.

This will eliminate the need for an additional plastic carrier bag, BreadTalk said. However, customers who still want the additional plastic carrier at the five outlets will be charged 10 cents for each carrier, and they will be encouraged to bring their own reusable bag. 

The proceeds from the bag charges will go to charity. 

Earlier this week, NTUC FairPrice announced that it would be significantly expanding its “no plastic bag” initiative to 25 stores islandwide, after a successful month-long trial at seven stores.

The supermarket chain said that the initiative, which will last for a year, will require shoppers to purchase bags at 20 cents per transaction at the participating FairPrice, FairPrice Finest and FairPrice Xtra stores, or 10 cents per transaction at Cheers and FairPrice Xpress stores.

In July, fashion retailer H&M announced a 10-cent charge for shopping bags. Fast-food outlet Kentucky Fried Chicken has also stopped issuing straws, while food delivery firm Foodpanda gives customers the option to say no to disposable cutlery.

A BreadTalk spokesperson said its trial aims to halve the monthly use of small-sized plastic bags across the five participating stores. 

“Most of our average transactions are between two and three bread (items), so this trial initiative is one of our biggest yet with the newly-designed food bag, giving us the opportunity to share with both our staff as well as customers (about) using less plastic,” added the spokesperson.

Signs have been put up in stores to inform customers of the trial ahead of its implementation.

Proceeds from the sale of the carrier bags will go towards Community Chest, an organisation under the National Council of Social Service, which raises funds for social service organisations here.

As part of the trial, the bakery will also encourage customers to take part in an online survey to seek their reaction to the trial.

BreadTalk said it has been encouraging and rewarding customers who bring and use their own bags or containers since 2015.

From August to September, for instance, BreadTalk gave out reward cards to 10 customers who uploaded pictures on social media of bread that they had bought and packed in their own containers.

BreadTalk said its counter staff members are also trained to check with customers on their preference to use fewer bags by packing more than one bun in a bag.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that customers will be charged 10 cents for each of the new food bags introduced by BreadTalk. This is incorrect. The new food bags are free, but customers at the five participating outlets will be charged 10 cents if they want an additional plastic carrier on top of the food bag.