“Shopping is part of my daily life; I need plastic bags from supermarkets or other shops which can be reused as garbage bags. This is a general and normal habit for most Macao residents,” said Mrs. Wong, a housewife.

Not only housewives, but most Macao residents are not concerned about saving plastic bags. Shopping malls, supermarkets or small shops provide plastic bags freely and abundantly.

Plastic bags are produced from petroleum; the production and decomposition are destructive to the environment including the blockage of rivers and release of carcinogens during the process of combustion. In recent decades, many countries and regions have formulated different policies to prevent people from wasting plastic bags. For instance, the Environmental Protection Department of the Hong Kong government has carried out the Environmental Levy Scheme on plastic shopping bags since July 2009 which levies residents 50 cents per plastic bag. Nevertheless, there is still no severe policy in Macao related to the reduction of plastic bag usage.

Although the Macao government’s Consumer Council set 28th of each month as “no plastic bag day” for “certified shops” (shops that are approved by the government as credible outlets) since 2009 and added one more day (the 18th day of each month) in April 2011, people think that the result was not obvious. “The government did not promote the campaign very well, sometime even I saw the posters or advertisements, I would forget it and use plastic bags unconsciously. Plastic bags are necessary for me, it is hard to get rid of them,” said Mrs. Wong.

According to an investigation conducted by the Macao Environment Protection Volunteer Association about the habit of Macao residents using plastic bags in 2010, among 1104 successfully interviewed residents, almost 80% would not bring their own shopping bags; nearly one fourth of them used three to five plastic bags per day. It was estimated that the number of plastic bags used in Macao totaled over 400 million per year. “Citizens get used to being provided plastic bags from us, sometimes, they will ask for more than one plastic bag, “ Miss Ng, a shop assistant of a supermarket in NAPE, emphasized.

Fong Chi Kin, director of the Macao Environment Protection Volunteer Association pointed out that although the government has made efforts on reducing plastic bags, they still need to supervise those “certified shops”. On the other hand, education and social activities play a very important role in arousing public attention to the issue. The government should hold more events like carnivals to promote the idea of environmental protection.

However, as to the issue of introducing tax on plastic bags, Fong was cautious. He said this cannot be carried out recklessly. “The government must take small- and medium-sized enterprises into consideration. Actually besides a plastic bag tax, there are still many other ways such as using recyclable bags which can also stop people from using plastic bags,” Fong added.