There will be no more free plastic bags throughout Malaysia as the state governments adopt the “No Plastic Bag Campaign” in an effort to reduce pollution in the country.
Under this campaign, consumers will be charged a minimum value of 20 sen for each plastic bag they requested. Before this, the campaign had already been carried out in Penang, Selangor, and Johor.
According to Bernama, Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said his ministry had obtained the mandate from the 76th national council meeting for local governments to impose the pollution charge.
He added that an agreement to continue the implementation of the campaign had been reached in the Meeting of Environment Ministers and Members of the State Executive Council Responsible for the Environment (Mexcoe).
“Several other states are planning to start implementing this campaign along with the collection of the charge, starting with the initial phase of consumer awareness.”
“This initiative, which has been implemented since 2021, is effective in reducing plastic pollution in Malaysia. I hope this initiative will continue to be supported by all parties for the sake of environmental sustainability, which is our shared responsibility,” he said.
He also said that the meeting had agreed on strengthening cooperation between the federal and state governments to ensure that development activities can be balanced with the need to preserve the environment.
He added that Mexcoe would be strengthened with the reorganisation of its members as well as the addition of new ones, especially from the Sabah and Sarawak governments.
Meanwhile, the meeting decided that the national-level National Environment Day celebration this year would be held on 21 October in Pahang.
