PETALING JAYA: Sixteen retail chains will not be providing single-use plastic bags to customers starting from October 1, said Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.
The outlets that have pledged to help achieve Malaysia’s goal to eliminate single-use plastics by 2030 include 7-Eleven, KK Mart, 99 Speed Mart, AEON Big: AEON, Lotus, Lulu, Mydin, TF-Value Mart, Econsave, Giant, Cold Storage and Mercato; Guardian, The Store, Watsons, emart24, and NSK Trade City.
Nga said this is a part of the retail chain’s pledge in the “Say No to Single-Use Plastics” campaign by the ministry, The Star reported.
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“We encourage all Malaysians to support this effort and bring their own grocery bags instead.
“This effort will also help reduce as much as 200 million single-use plastics in Malaysia annually.
“We do not own the Earth but are only borrowing it, hence it is everyone’s responsibility to make this campaign a success,” Nga was quoted as saying.
He added that some establishments have started similar campaigns earlier, mentioning how the government spent more than RM2 billion annually in waste disposal management and public cleanliness.
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According to Nga, Malaysians produce up to 14.5 million tonnes of waste annually.
In August 2023, Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad launched the ‘Madani Reusable Bag and No Plastic Bag’ Campaign, carried out in stages since 2022 in “fixed business premises”.
Nik Ahmad said the campaign will go on until 2025 when the ban on plastic bag use will take effect
Since 2011, Selangor, Penang, Johor and Negeri Sembilan have been at the forefront of the government’s no plastic campaign to address plastic pollution.
The campaign’s first initiative was not providing free plastic bags every Saturday as a way to encourage consumers to bring their own shopping bags.
