‘Eco-business faces difficulties with low eco-consciousness’

A local SME – Macau ECOnscious – has found it difficult to sell eco-friendly products in the city given residents’ low awareness of the subject coupled with local businesses placing less value on such goods.
The company, founded in February 2016, primarily sells biodegradable and compostable cornstarch shopping bags as well as takeaway boxes to local restaurants, cafes and supermarkets.
Speaking to Business Daily, founder and director Gilberto Camacho said he smelled the potential of this business after realising the use of plastic bags is one of the serious environmental problems in the territory.
Currently, about 15 local businesses from supermarkets to cafes to restaurants buy his products, he said, adding major customers tend to be foreigners or local people who have more awareness about environmental protection.
“For those who have a Chinese education background here, they tend to think making money is the most important thing rather than making things that are sustainable and friendly for the environment,” Mr. Camacho opined.
He added that his sales of eco-friendly products are more popular among businesses in Taipa than those on the Macau Peninsula.
“I sold around 100 bags in two months in Taipa as many foreigners are living in Taipa, while to one local supermarket located in Fai Chi Kei on the Macau Peninsula, I only sold two bags in half a year,” he claimed.
The challenges, in his opinion, were aggravated by the fact that eco-friendly products are usually more expensive than ordinary products, thus increasing the operating costs of buyer companies.
“My potential clients would ask: why would I need to buy your eco-friendly bags that cost MOP1 (US$0.13) for one if I can buy a cheaper plastic bag that only costs MOP0.5,” Camacho said.
He added that the low awareness of local residents towards eco-friendly products, in this case – bags, was owing to local businesses being used to offering plastic bags for free so that people are not willing to spend more to buy one eco-friendly bag themselves.
“Some of them don’t even know why eco-friendly bags are more expensive as they only care about the cost,” he said.

Education & government support
In order to promote the business, the businessman believes more education is needed.
“It’s not only the responsibility of the government to educate the people and do recycling here. It’s actually everyone’s responsibility because the planet is ours,” he stressed. “Awareness of environmental protection should be heavily promoted on TV, in newspapers and in social media.”
Recently, legislator Si Ka Lon filed a written enquiry questioning the effectiveness of the city’s Macau Environmental Protection Plan for 2010 to 2020 that seeks to improve the living environment of local residents.
The legislator pointed out in his interpellation that the city had failed to meet the standards outlined in the plan in terms of clean energy utilisation, waste recycling and domestic sewage treatment in the city.
In fact, Mr. Camacho has also noticed that the city is becoming more polluted than before and that the measures taken by society to protect the environment are insufficient.
He added that he had sought the co-operation of the government to handle the environment issues of the city during the beginning stage of his business but failed to fully engage it.
“I presented the eco-bag idea to the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) that would go ahead at that time but they didn’t see a way of co-operating with me. After a long wait, the answer was still no,” he added.

Business plans
Amid the current difficulties, the company has to give 10 per cent commission to local supermarkets for each of his eco-bags sold in order to reach a wider range of consumers in the city, Mr. Camacho said.
But offering commissions may not still appeal enough to supermarkets, he said, as most of the supermarkets here perceive the co-operation as not profitable.
Nevertheless, Camacho believes that there is potential in this business.
“It is a big potential in Macau as long as the people are well educated in protecting the environment so that they switch to using eco-friendly products. Otherwise, it’s very hard for me to convince them to buy my products,” he reckons.
Looking forward, the businessman said that his company is planning to introduce new organic food products to the city and teach people how to plant their own vegetables.
“People can feel the good food they eat as eating something good doesn’t require education. I think organic food is the future of [our] kind of company,” he said.
He added that this is also one of his business strategies to diversify his income source.
“I think it is more profitable for my business when people buy organic food than shopping bags and lunchboxes,” he concluded.