More education needed on ban

Big change: Manager Yong Min Jie looking at various reusablecontainers following the ban on polystyrene takeaway boxes from food stalls.

PETALING JAYA: Selangor’s ban on plastic bags is just into its second day and it is clear there needs to be more education on the policy.

Although wet market chicken seller Tan Yew Leong is technically exempted from the “no plastic bag” rule, he felt the education process could have been done much better.

He said if city council or state government officers went to the ground to educate consumers, he and his colleagues could save RM100 a week by not buying plastic bags for customers.

He said official posters or banners explaining the ban in detail would be helpful.

“Right now, even if we explain the ban to customers, we do not have anything to point to except the newspaper announcements, which people may have missed,” he said.

Petaling Jaya City Council solid waste management unit head Lee Lih Shyan said limiting the source of plastic bags was a good strategy, given the attitude in Malaysia.

He added that when fewer plastic bags go into a landfill, its lifespan is extended.

For Kuala Lumpur resident Kuee Su San, Selangor’s ban on plastic bags was a good one.

“I knew about the upcoming ban, so I have been bringing a reusable shopping bag,” said Kuee, who admitted that even so she still needed reminders to bring her own container to pack takeaways.

In Johor Baru, the state government said it hoped to reduce some 131,400 tonnes of polystyrene and plastic waste annually once it enforced the use of biodegradable food containers in 2018.

State Health and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat said they were in the middle of educating and creating awareness.

Meanwhile, Johor Baru City Centre mayor A. Rahim Nin said they would stop using polystyrene and plastic containers at their events immediately.