GEORGE TOWN: Come Jan 1, plastic bags will be practically banned state-wide.
The move – an extension of the current “No Plastic Bag Day” in shopping centres and hypermarkets on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays – means that no plastic bags can be used every day by almost all business sectors.
The ruling will cover all hypermarkets, supermarkets, departmental stores, pharmacies, fast food restaurants, nasi kandar outlets, convenience stores including petrol kiosks and chain stores.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the move would reduce the state’s carbon footprint.
“Mini markets and sole proprietorship businesses will have to adhere to the ruling on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in order to ensure the renewal of their licences.
“Previously, they only had to adhere to the ruling on Mondays,” he said when tabling the 2011 Budget at the state legislative assembly yesterday.
Lim’s two paragraph announcement on the wide-ranging plastic ban was buried inside his 27-page budget speech, apparently catching many by surprise.
To promote the “No Plastic Bag Day” ruling, the state will distribute 500,000 brochures to create public awareness besides erecting educational billboards.
On July 1, last year, Penang became the first state to implement a “No Plastic Bag Day” ruling in shopping complexes and hypermarkets every Monday, before it was extended to Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well from Jan 2.
From July 1, 2009 to Oct 28, a total of 32.5 million plastic bags were saved under this campaign.
Shoppers who did not bring their own reusable bags were charged 20 sen for each plastic bag when making purchases.
The money collected from the sale of plastic bags went to the “Partners Against Poverty” Special Fund to help the state’s hardcore poor.
Reactions…….
No plastic bag move necessary to cut usage
I READ with dismay “Plastic bag makers unhappy over ban implementation” (Sunday Star, Jan 2). While many parties are lauding the move first initiated by the Penang government, it has led to unhappiness among plastic bag manufacturers, who stand to lose the most as a result of the ban.
Data released by the US Environmental Protection Agency show that between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year (National Geographic News; Sept 2, 2003).
While many argue that the plastic bags in use today are recyclable, consider this fact: worldwide, less than 1% of bags are recycled. Also, a study way back in 1975 revealed that ocean-going vessels dumped almost 3.6 million kilograms of plastic annually. Worse still, the British Antarctic survey had found plastic bags floating in the sea north of the Arctic circle and as far away as the Falkland Islands. Bangladesh, China, Singapore, Rwanda and the European Union have taken initiatives to ban free plastic bags, and it is about time we do it as well. I hope state governments will hold steadfast to the ban despite pressure from various quarters. Think about the future generation.
DRD,
George Town.
Tuesday January 4, 2011
Time to get serious with protecting environment
HAVING holidayed over many years in Penang, I read with interest “Pay for bags on Saturdays” (Sunday Star, Jan 2).
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the ban on free plastic bags would take effect from Saturday. The state government was “willing to lose its popularity to protect the environment for our future generations”, he said. The Chief Minister’s supposed “green” credentials seem somewhat contradictory when coming from someone who is currently presiding over a Penang landscape that is being altered at a pace never seen before in the island’s history.
This is especially so when construction is at the expense of this so-called “protected” environment.
Nobody can argue with the fact that the elimination of plastic bags will be a good thing in the longer term but I am reminded in this case of a quote: An ounce of hypocrisy is worth a pound of (political?) ambition. I hope this point will be viewed as an opportunity to get serious on all fronts and levels.
SEAN RYLAND,
Sydney, Australia.
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