Soy sauce refills and reused jars: can Philippines’ tingi culture hold back deluge of plastic waste?

A zero-waste shop set up by a district council provides plastic-free products at affordable prices in a country that gets through 164m sachets a day Just after classes finish for the day in Malabon City, in the Philippines, a corner shop begins to fill. Mothers arrive with their children, handing over empty bottles to be refilled with soy sauce and cooking oil. Plastic tubs that previously held ice-cream or biscuits are weighed and filled with flour or sugar. The kids get some sweets and banana chips bagged in brown kraft paper. This store, Tingi Tindahan, offers a different experience from ot