PETALING JAYA: Some 16 retail chains nationwide have pledged to no longer provide single-use plastic bags to customers from Tuesday (Oct 1), says Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.
Nga 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.
It was made as part of the “Say No to Single-Use Plastics” campaign launched by the ministry.
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“All customers at these stores will no longer be given single-use plastic bags.
“We encourage all Malaysians to support this effort and bring their own grocery bags instead.
“This effort will also help reduce as much as 200 million single-use plastics in Malaysia annually.
“We do not own the Earth but are only borrowing it, hence it is everyone’s responsibility to make this campaign a success,” he told reporters after launching the campaign at the 1 Utama shopping complex here on Thursday (Sept 26).
The 16 outlets that pledged to join the campaign are 7-Eleven, 99 Speed Mart, AEON Big: AEON, Econsave, Giant, Cold Storage and Mercato; Guardian, KK Mart, Lotus, Lulu, Mydin, TF-Value Mart, The Store, Watsons, emart24, and NSK Trade City.
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The Malaysia Retailers Association, Malaysia Retail Chain Association, Malaysia Complex Management Association and 1 Utama Shopping Centre are also part of the pledge.
Nga said some retailers had begun similar campaigns much earlier.
He added that the country spent more than RM2bil annually to manage waste disposal sites and public cleanliness.
He said Malaysians produced 14.5 million tonnes of waste yearly.
“This is a big challenge for the government especially when it comes to national waste management,” he said.
