Almost five years after the statistics first came up, the city-state appears to remain number one globally – by far - when it comes to the production of single-use plastic, and that per capita. Many others in the region are not that far behind. 

There is not a day that goes by in which some Asia-Pacific startup is not «thrilled» to showcase innovative, environmentally friendly solutions while some well-established corporation touts its all-out effort to help the region meet Net Zero by 2030.

But, in truth, much of this appears to be lip service. The United Nations says as much although it treads the waters on that subject very lightly, saying Asia Pacific shows strong commitment but that it will overshoot the target, now slightly more than half a decade away, by a good 32 years. 

Asia Makes Top Three

Then there are statistics to show how stark the actual situation is. A Visual Capitalist graphic published late last week based on Statista data shows one very specific outlier - Singapore.

It leads the world in the production of single-use plastic at 76 kilograms a person. And who follows? Australia and then Oman, putting the region first, second, and third place globally.

Hong Kong and Switzerland

In sixth place comes Hong Kong, which gave up on a city-wide waste-charging scheme a month ago in May, although it is followed, very surprisingly, by a once avowed poster child of environmentalism - Switzerland.

Incredibly, they produce the same amount per capita as the US. Although the Americans came relatively late to the game of single-use plastic bags, they certainly managed to catch up quickly with Europe by the late 1980s.

Bottled Water

When it comes to Singapore, this is not a new problem. The city-state emerged as a leader in single-use plastic waste in 2019, and the statistics Visual Capitalist uses for its graphic are from Statista around that time.

A 2023 report by the online arm of UAE’s Westford University College of those figures shows that bottled water is one of the most significant contributors to plastic use in Singapore, even though the city has «excellent» tap water. 

Singaporeans Want Change

«Many Singaporeans hold the belief that public taps are unclean, leading them to abstain from drinking or refilling bottles from these sources,» the study said.

Still, the study went on to say that 78 percent of residents in the city-state acknowledged their role in influencing the environment by way of their actions, particularly through the excessive use of plastic. 

Reaching Net Nada

A significant proportion, or 38 percent, were willing to support phasing out single-use plastics and using alternatives, even if they were more expensive. Despite that, plastic waste has been rising by about 20 percent a year, at least until 2022.

But Singapore is not the only problem. Besides Australia and Oman, other countries in the region that made the top 20 list include South Korea, New Zealand, and Japan. But we have been here before, as a previous comment from finews.asia indicates.

Pipe Dream

Achieving net zero in Asia will remain a pipe dream until changes are made  – both big and small. 

That includes things like China's ability to produce more coal than the rest of the world combined at the same time that Hong Kong store owners keep their front door facades open most of the year, letting chilled air-conditioned air seep out freely onto open streets.