In Japan it is the custom for salesclerks in supermarkets and other stores to hand free polyethylene bags to customers to put their shopping in, but recently there has been a remarkable increase in the number of stores that give bags only to shoppers who request them. As well as promoting the campaign as a part of their environmental efforts to reduce garbage, stores believe that by reducing the number of free bags they will be able to lower costs, which will enable them to cut the prices of products.
Supermarkets have for several years been making efforts to reduce the number of free bags that they distribute. According to a business organization, about 75% of supermarkets have joined the campaign in one way or another. The most usual method is for supermarkets to give stamps or seals to customers who refuse bags and to offer about 100 yen worth of purchases for every 20 stamps or seals collected. Maybe because of the lack of publicity, however, the ratio of shoppers refusing bags is still very small.
To improve the situation, one leading supermarket, which gives away about 62 million bags a year, introduced a system earlier this year by which its 530 outlets, as well as offering stamps, only give bags to shoppers who request them. Recently, when the supermarket asks customers whether they require a bag, about one person in five answers in the negative--seven times more than before the system was introduced.
In June another supermarket, which was quick to adopt the stamp method, began urging customers to bring their own shopping bags, as a result of which the ratio of customers refusing free bags has increased twofold over the usual level to one person in four. The supermarket has received no complaints from customers. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of shoppers have expressed their support, saying, "I always thought free shopping bags were a waste," and, "I can always ask for one if I really need it."
Another major supermarket, believing that it is necessary to reduce not only free shopping bags but also product wrapping, has gone a step further. Recently this supermarket abolished the practice of wrapping products in polystyrene trays or bags as far as possible and has switched to a system of selling goods loose or by measure.
The number of free shopping bags handed out to customers is estimated to reach 3 billion a year in Tokyo alone. Realizing the need to increase the awareness of not only distributors but also consumers, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to launch a campaign from this fall to encourage shoppers to take their own bags and is calling on neighboring local governments to join in.
(The above article, edited by Japan Echo Inc., is based on domestic Japanese news sources. It is offered for reference purposes and does not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.)