Don Don Donki will cease sale of plastic bags from October 2024
A recent post on the Singapore subreddit announcing the discontinuation of sales of plastic bags at Don Don Donki has raised eyebrows among netizens.The post featured an in-store poster announcing that the popular Japanese discount chain will stop selling plastic bags, effective from 1 Oct this year.
A move towards sustainability
Prior to this announcement, all Don Don Donki Singapore stores charged 10 cents per plastic bag, a practice introduced in October 2021 in support of the National Environment Agency (NEA)’s Say YES to Waste Less (SYTWL) campaign.But while most supermarkets are continuing with the practice of charging for plastic bags, the Japanese discount chain will stop selling its iconic yellow and black bags altogether starting this October.
Instead, its poster urged customers to “use reusable bags to help support a greener future”.
Netizens say it’s ‘a really bad move’
The announcement was met with mostly negative reactions from netizens.One netizen who shared the announcement on a local online forum added a sarcastic caption: “Revenue will fall how much?”
One Redditor reacting to the Reddit post of the announcement explained that most Don Don Donki customers are impulse buyers who may not have reusable bags on hand when they visit the store. Therefore, the move might lead to dissatisfied customers.
Another was dismayed at the discontinuation of plastic bags, noting that the store’s ready-to-eat items tend to leak, making reusable bags inconvenient for carrying such products.
Source: Reddit
A Redditor agreed, pointing out that it was a “really bad move to just remove plastic bags as a whole”, unless the chain also provides bags for fresh produce.
One netizen joked that they would start a “side hustle” selling Don Don Donki plastic bags.
Source: Reddit
Yet another speculated that the sale of plastic bags would be replaced by the sale of reusable ones, which would cost more.