SINGAPORE: Supermarket operators Hao Mart and Ang Mo Supermarket are no longer required to charge for plastic bags following their deregistration from the disposable carrier bag charge scheme.
This is the first time any supermarket operator has been delisted, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Friday (Jan 30) in response to CNA's queries.
Hao Mart and Ang Mo Supermarket were on the initial list of operators obliged to charge for plastic bags when the scheme first started in 2023, alongside prominent chains such as FairPrice, Cold Storage and Sheng Siong.
Both supermarket operators were deregistered at the end of last year after applying to do so, NEA told CNA.
This was because their annual turnover for each of the last three consecutive years did not exceed the prescribed threshold of S$100 million (US$79.3 million).
Besides not being required to charge for disposable carrier bags, they no longer have to report to NEA the number of such bags issued or the proceeds collected in 2026.
As non-registered retailers, both supermarket chains still have the discretion to decide whether to charge customers for plastic bags.
Since Jul 3, 2023, larger operators with annual turnover of more than S$100 million have been required to charge at least 5 cents for each disposable carrier bag provided at their supermarkets. This is mandatory under the Resource Sustainability Act.
Operators are also required to annually publish details on the number of bags supplied, the amount of proceeds collected and how the funds are used, to ensure transparency and accountability.
According to Hao Mart's latest report, published on Dec 12, 2025, it collected S$21,143.50 in 2024 for 422,870 plastic bags. None of the proceeds was donated that year.
After paying 9 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the government – S$1,745.79 – the remaining amount was retained by Hao Mart for its general operating expenses, including costs associated with providing disposable carrier bags and the administration of the scheme.
CNA could not find published reports online for Ang Mo Supermarket.
When CNA visited the Hao Mart outlets at Marina Square and Whampoa on Friday afternoon, both stores charged 5 cents per bag. The Ang Mo Supermarket outlet in Potong Pasir similarly charged 5 cents for a bag.
When asked whether Hao Mart would continue to charge for plastic bags, the retailer's senior vice president of operations Jupri Suep said that the provision of plastic bags remains an expense for the operator.
CNA has reached out to Ang Mo Supermarket but could not get in touch with a representative.
A 43-year-old man, who worked as a technician at the Home Team Tactical Centre, was sentenced to 10 months' jail on Jan. 29, 2026 for stealing 10 bags of spent bullet heads from the centre's shooting range.
Govindarajan Arunachalam, an Indian national, enlisted two migrant workers to help sell off nine bags weighing over 164kg.
The two workers, Periyasamy Ramaiya, 28, and Rajendran Veerakumar, 30, both also Indian nationals, each got six months' jail for assisting the man in selling the stolen items.
Govindarajan faced one charge of theft and one charge of violating the Miscellaneous (Public Order and Nuisance) Act, and admitted to one of them.
The other charge was taken into consideration during sentencing.
Sold spent bullets to recycler
According to Shin Min Daily News, Govindarajan got the idea to sell spent bullet heads as scrap metal after seeing 40 to 50 bags of them placed at a shed at the Home Team range in Mandai in December 2024.
He placed nine bags, weighing about 164kg, into a receptacle and covered it with a blue cloth.
He then waited for an opportune time to steal the spent bullet heads.
Got others to help
About two months later on Feb. 23, 2025, the man enlisted the help of a migrant worker to bring four of those bags to Admiralty on the worker's lorry.
There, he sold them off to a recycler and paid the worker S$20 to S$30.
On Mar. 16 that same year, the man sold the remaining five bags of spent bullets to a recycler and paid another migrant worker about S$50 for his help.
Turned down
On Jul. 27, the man stole another bag of spent bullet heads.
Again, he attempted to sell them as scrap metal to another recycling company.
However, the company told the man that he needed to produce a certifying document before they would take the spent bullet heads.
The company turned the man away.
Govindarajan panicked and attempted to replace the spent bullets at the shooting range.
A security supervisor at the industrial complex, which housed the recycling company, noticed an unattended bag of spent bullet heads and filed a police report on Jul. 26.
This led to the man's arrest on Jul. 28, 2025.