People line up to pay at a supermarket in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2021. Photo by Reuters
Some 16 retail chains across Malaysia have pledged to no longer provide single-use plastic bags to customers from Oct. 1, said Minister of Housing and Local Government Nga Kor Ming at the “Say No to Single-Use Plastics” campaign in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
The minister said the grocery retail chains, which have close to 8,000 outlets nationwide, pledged to help Malaysia achieve its goal of eliminating single-use plastics by 2030.
This effort will also help reduce as much as 200 million single-use plastics in Malaysia each year, he said, encouraging all Malaysians to support this and bring their own grocery bags instead.
According to the minister, some retailers had begun similar campaigns much earlier. The country spent more than US$480 million annually to manage waste disposal sites and public cleanliness.
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