Swedcham 2018: “Say No to Plastic Waste“

The Issue:

The world produces more than 300 million tons of plastic every year, including billions of plastic bottles and five billion plastic bags. In Singapore, only 7% of the plastic is recycled.

Since plastic does not decompose and is for the most part not recycled, it needs to go somewhere. Sadly, huge amounts of plastic end up littering our landscape and our oceans. Natural beauty is being ruined, plastic is entering our own food chain, and entire ecosystems are threatened.

SwedCham is through its Sustainability Sub-Committee shining a light on this issue. We will be screening the award-winning movie A Plastic Ocean, and will be working with stakeholders, ranging from government to NGO’s, to support the development of an action plan for Singapore.

Although we are expecting government and producers of plastic products to step up and shoulder their responsibility, we firmly believe that all of us, as consumers, need to help with reducing plastic waste at source. SwedCham is, therefore, reached out to its members with a challenge!

The Challenge:

SwedCham is challenging its members to make a “Say No to Plastic Waste” resolution for 2018. If you respond in the affirmative to the following statement, then you are ready to accept the challenge:

Starting in 2018, we will not offer water or other beverages in disposable plastic bottles or cups in our Singapore workplace. 

By notifying SwedCham that you are accepting the “Say No to Plastic Waste” challenge, you authorize SwedCham to list your company as a participant in the “Say No to Plastic Waste” challenge on the SwedCham website and in SwedCham publications.

We hope to show that Singapore is at the forefront in sustainability thinking and that we will surpass the Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. We are also hopeful that a high participation rate among SwedCham members can lead to other chambers of commerce and business organisation in Singapore accepting the challenge as well!