Starting this July, plastic bags at HomePro will cost one baht each.
Home-improvement megastore HomePro is Thailand’s latest retailer to attempt to decrease plastic bag use. From July 1, customers who insist on receiving a plastic bag will have to pay one baht per bag.
The store hopes the policy will prompt customers to switch to reusable cloth bags. PattayaToday feels that this wont do much at all, if anything the mega chain should consider removing the option for plastic bags all together and provide a more costly alternative such as 30THB for a canvas / material bag option that should be reused. In this day and age, 1thb doesn’t mean much at all, 1THB for the convenience of carrying a plastic bag will be widely accepted and wont provide much support when it comes to reducing the overall amount of plastic waste.
“The point is we have to start with ourselves and then expand the initiative to the [customers],” HomePro’s communications head Siriwan Sermcheep said.
In 2016, HomePro began banning plastic bags on the 4th, 14th, and 24th of every month. This of course was considered an annoyance for their customers.
The store claims that proceeds from the new policy will be donated to charity, but did not give details about which charity, nor has there been any evidence that this has actually happened. HomePro officials could not be contacted as of press time. The store expects the new campaign to save at least 1.5 million plastic bags a year, we would love to see evidence of this and statistics
Last week, Central Group, the nation’s top retailing conglomerate, announced that it will cease providing plastic bags at all its stores, except at its supermarket chains such as Tops Market and Central Food Hall. This is a step in the right direction, we hope more mega chains and super companies continue with this trend.
