Stores in Nagoya City Start Charging for Plastic Shopping Bags

The Nagoya City government in Aichi prefecture started a pilot scheme to charge shoppers for plastic shopping bags in Midori Ward staring October 1, 2007. It will attempt to implement the scheme throughout the city by 2010. About one billion plastic shopping bags weighing 7,000 metric tons are used annually in Nagoya, and the city is targeting a reduction of 60 percent, amounting to 600 million bags weighing 4,200 metric tons.

Three parties have worked together to implement the scheme; participating companies, the Containers and Packaging 3R Promotion Association and the Nagoya City government. The 3R Association consists of academic experts and representatives of consumers and businesses that have agreed to cooperate on promoting the reduction of plastic shopping bags in Nagoya city. Specific roles are assigned to each participant in the agreement.

As of December 17, 2007, project participants included 29 shops belonging to 18 business organizations in the ward: specifically, 24 stores belonging to 13 supermarket chains, a co-operative supermarket, a drug store, an imported food and grocery store, a clothing store and a dry cleaners. Each store charges around five yen (about 4 U.S. cents) per plastic bag.

In the two months after the project started, the ratio of customers refusing plastic shopping bags reached 87 percent on average in October, and 89 percent in November, well over the target of 60 percent. It was estimated that 4.23 million plastic shopping bags (30 metric tons) were saved, equivalent to 273 drums of oil (one oil drum = 200 liters.)

http://www.city.nagoya.jp/global/en/
- Supermarket Aeon Starts Charging for Plastic Shopping Bags in Kyoto (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1678-e

Posted: 2008/03/01 03:07:07 AM