GEORGE TOWN: Retailers in Penang who failed to hand over the 20 sen charges they had collected from customers for single-use plastic bags may have their trading licences revoked through an amendment to the state’s local council by-laws.
State Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh today said a number of retail outlets in the state had not been submitting the charges collected ever since the by-law on the plastic bag charge was enforced.
“Our legal advisors will be having a meeting tomorrow to look into the by-law concerned and to recommend amendments that would include revoking their (retailers trading) licence,” he told a press conference here.
According to him, Penang had enforced the by-law requiring the 20-sen charge for single-use plastic bag since it started the “No Free Plastic Bag” campaign in 2009 but some retailers had stopped handing over their collections of the charges when the federal government introduced a similar weekend campaign three years ago.
“In spite of the federal-level campaign, states still can collect the money (from the plastic bag charges) and they can use it for environmental (protection) or charity purposes,” he said.
Phee said a survey would also be conducted for three months to keep track of the use of plastic bags and the “Zero plastic bags on Mondays” campaign which kicked off today.
“We will conduct a public survey in cafes, coffee shops, shopping centres and hypermarkets, and we will get response from consumers and operators,” he said.
He added that the survey results will be presented at the Penang Green Council International Conference, which will be held on Sept 27 to 29. — Bernama
