SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government is considering collecting the 20 sen charge from business premises that currently impose the fee on consumers for the sale each plastic bag, beginning next year.
State Environment, Green Technology and Consumer committee chairman Hee Loy Sian said the collection would be done through the local authorities, and would be used for an awareness campaign.
Presently, the collection is utilised by the premises themselves for corporate social responsibility purposes, including environmental conservation.
“The state government is planning to start collecting the 20 sen that is being charged for each plastic bag, and which is being collected by businesses, specifically supermarkets and convenience stores.
“The collection will be done through the local councils and is expected to be implemented by next year. They will be channeled to a trust fund for awareness campaign at the grassroot level,“ he said when winding up his 2019 Budget speech at the state legislative assembly, here today.
Hee said the proposal was also in accordance to Malaysia’s Roadmap Towards Zero Single-Use Plastic 2018-2030 that was launched in October.
Beginning in January 2017, Selangor required major hypermarkets and supermarkets to charge 20 sen for each plastic bag at the shop counter upon request.
Hee added that contrary to claims that efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags through the 20 charge have failed, the campaign has been a success, as evident through the reduction in the number of consumers purchasing the plastic bags.
“This campaign can be considered a success because based on information received from the business premises, the collection has reduced. This proves most consumers are already getting used to bringing their own bags,“ he said.
On a suggestion for the government to replace plastic bags with paper bags, Hee said Selangor would consider it but said it was highly unlikely due to the impact it would have on the environment.
“There are pros and cons. For one, it can be easily recycled, it also involves cutting down trees. It is also not suitable to carry wet and heavy items in it,“ he added.
