This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on February 19, 2024 - February 25, 2024

These days, it is difficult to avoid being given a plastic straw or plastic bag unless the conscientious consumer remembers to inform the waiter or cashier when placing an order.

The onslaught of plastic use in Malaysia has worsened after the pandemic, with plans to ban single-use plastic prior to the outbreak of Covid-19 seemingly forgotten. There was a time when such regulations were taken seriously in some states and business owners who failed to comply were fined.

The government seems to be interested in returning to this agenda. Last May, Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the “no plastic bag” campaign that began in 2022 would continue to 2025, and that, by then, retail use of plastic bags across all business sectors nationwide would be banned. This requirement would be extended even to roadside stalls.

Can Malaysia truly wean itself off single-use plastic in 10 months? Looking at its track record, one cannot help but be sceptical. Industry players and stakeholders who spoke to ESG also question whether this is the right strategy to tackle plastic pollution. 

What they do agree on is that something must be done.

Malaysia is one of the biggest individual consumers of plastic packaging, according to a WWF report in 2020, and often ranks among the top 10 contributors to marine plastic waste, according to various reports and surveys published in the last few years.

Single-use plastic bags and straws are generally not accepted by recyclers because of their low value and difficult collection process. They also easily leak into the environment, clogging drains and causing pollution. A ban, therefore, would prevent such waste from being generated in the first place.

For the ban to work, industry players say, an affordable alternative must be provided, alongside monetary incentives.

“Earlier, when the [no single-use plastic ban] was promoted, consumers would bring their own bags. After a while, this practice stopped and people went back to their old ways of using plastic for takeaways,” says Boon Kok Choon, president of the Federation of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Hawkers Association.

“I don’t see many alternatives. There must be a promotion of the alternatives, like what we see overseas.”

Interestingly, this is a point repeated by Nik Nazmi in an interview with ESG.

“The NRES ministry will focus on phasing out the problematic single-use plastic, like plastic bags and polystyrene, by replacing it with a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative, such as biodegradable plastic. The list will be prioritised based on consumption, impact and available alternatives. The ministry has collaborated with Sirim Bhd to develop a new standard as an alternative product to single-use plastic.”

The government’s Roadmap Towards Zero Single-Use Plastics 2018-2030 suggests biodegradable and compostable alternatives to single-use plastic. However, environmental claims of biodegradable and compostable plastic are under scrutiny globally, as it often requires very specific conditions to be achieved.

Nevertheless, the cost of these alternatives tends to be higher.

A quick search on Shopee shows that buying plastic straws in bulk (more than 100 pieces) generally costs less than RM3. The same amount of paper straws can be bought for a slightly higher price, but are still in the range of RM5. Some biodegradable rice and sugarcane straws are sold at roughly the same price as paper straws. Metal straws, of course, are many times more expensive than the other alternatives.

Wong Teu Hoon, president of the Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association, says: “Coffee shops don’t really use plastic unless it’s for takeaway. There’s a type of paper cup we use now that’s a bit more expensive … Give us a timeline so we have enough time to change. And make the cups and recyclable containers we buy cheaper or tax deductible. The government sometimes changes its policies, so we are just taking it one step at a time.”

Retail players are taking action to reduce single-use plastic as well, not just to align with the government’s efforts but also to cut down on their waste production and carbon emissions, thanks to the focus on ESG in recent years.

The challenges are manifold, especially in getting consumers to change their behaviour. Many companies started by charging 20 sen for a plastic bag — as required by the government’s single-use plastic roadmap — which did not make a difference.

“In Penang, the charge is RM1. Because of that, everybody in Penang brings their own reusable bag,” says Dr Kasuma Satria Mat Jadi, member of the Malaysia Retailers Association and chief human resources officer at AEON Co (M) Bhd. The higher charge for plastic bags in Penang is an initiative of the state government.

To move the needle further, retail stores have been taking more drastic action by banning single-use plastic nationwide. AEON began doing this in January 2023, which saved the company 70 million plastic bags annually, says Kasuma. According to him, that is equivalent to 123,000 tonnes of carbon emissions avoided.

Lotus’s Malaysia stopped offering single-use plastic bags from 2021, while 99 Speedmart started this policy last May. Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd, one of the country’s largest wholesale and retail chains, announced that from January this year, it would no longer provide plastic bags.

There are still challenges to overcome, of course. Many shoppers forget to bring reusable bags and alternatives are not yet available to wrap and pack perishables such as meat. Hawkers and traders at markets also find it more difficult to meet the government’s goals, owing to a lack of financial resources.

“At that level, it will be difficult to push through unless the government goes to manufacturers [of single-use plastic] and say they cannot manufacture it,” says Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin, managing director of Mydin.

If the government really wants to make this policy effective, there needs to be a ban on the manufacturing and import of single-use plastic, he believes. This opinion is echoed by several other interviewees.

“You cannot go after the traders. You have to go to the source. That means local factories cannot manufacture or import it,” says Ameer Ali.

But there is one caveat, they say. The ban has to be done in stages, ideally starting with things that already have accessible alternatives. Consumers can bring their own bags or purchase reusable bags from hypermarkets. But the alternative to straws is not as accessible.

“The industry needs help to convert. The cost is high to just change overnight. There should be something the government can do to assist the industry because we have been hit left and right with rising costs, from manpower and utilities to financial costs. Tax benefits would be good to start with,” says AEON’s Kasuma.

The Selangor government mandated businesses to charge 20 sen per plastic bag in 2017, although the requirement was loosened during the pandemic. According to reports, the state government collected RM20 million in revenue from this initiative from 2020 to June 2022.

The Selangor government has said it aims to have a complete ban on single-use plastic bags by 2025, subject to the availability of alternatives. The responsibility for implementing these measures falls, however, on the local authority, which must go to the ground and assist the transition. At that level, perspectives on the best strategy could differ.

Bukit Gasing state assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran, for instance, is focused on making recycling more accessible. In his view, the biggest contributor to plastic pollution is littering. Changing consumer behaviour takes a long time, and unless alternatives are available, it will not be effective.

“If you recycle, you reduce a significant amount of waste that goes to the landfill. That’s important and the consciousness is strong among the middle class, the rich and the B40 in urban areas. That’s why I put my efforts there,” says Rajiv, who adds that he still supports the federal and state agendas on single-use plastic.

Together with KDEB Waste Management Sdn Bhd, Rajiv set up a system in which residents can put recyclable trash in transparent plastic bags and the rest in normal trash bags, both of which will be collected by the waste management company for disposal and recycling.

He also organised a “Cash 4 Trash” initiative to incentivise recycling and placed more trash cans in public areas to prevent littering. These initiatives could be more impactful if the goal is to prevent marine plastic pollution, he says.

Penang was one of the earliest states to discourage the use of plastic bags, starting from the “no plastic bag” every first Monday of the month in 2009. It increased the charge on plastic bags to RM1 from Thursdays to Sundays in 2020 and banned the sale of plastic bags on other days. The ban is not applicable to wet market traders and hawkers.

Yet, plastic bags and straws are still common items found in the trash in the state, according to news reports.

Penang Green Council (PGC) general manager Josephine Tan says: “Since we raised the fee to RM1 and banned plastic bags from Mondays to Wednesdays, the request for plastic bags has dropped 78% in Penang [in 2021],” says.

She believes the adjustment of prices was effective. Still, challenges remain for the state to meet the federal government’s target of no single-use plastic by 2025. That is why Penang is preparing a single-use plastic framework, which will identify what categories of single-use plastic can be phased out and what should be prioritised.

The concerns of businesses and the people must be considered. “We did a survey and they told us that they are aware and they understand it’s time for them to reduce, but there is a lack of alternatives and the cost is higher than plastic,” says Tan.

Another takeaway from the survey with local communities, hawkers and business operators was that after plastic bags, the items they think can be charged for use are plastic straws, flexible plastic packaging and plastic containers. These insights will inform the framework.

“Our goal is to eliminate plastic items that are unnecessary first because, frankly speaking, we can’t live without plastic nowadays,” Tan says, adding that the state government must provide solutions.  

These include providing recycling facilities and education and outreach programmes. It has also conducted a study on alternatives to flexible packaging.

The council is an active stakeholder in developing the federal government’s plastic roadmap, circular economy framework and other projects. One of the policies that Tan is excited about is extended producer responsibility (EPR), which makes plastic producers responsible for the end-of-life management of their products.

EPR incentivises them to adopt more sustainable practices and strengthen their recycling efforts. For instance, a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company might set up home collection recycling services or design products that use only recyclable plastic. This would cut down on single-use plastic in the packaging of products sold in stores and prevent it from entering the landfill or environment.

In 2021, a group of FMCG industry players — including Coca-Cola Malaysia, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd and Nestlé (Malaysia) Bhd — formed the Malaysian Recycling Alliance to promote the implementation of EPR in the country.

The government has said an EPR plan for plastic products will be implemented in phases between 2023 and 2025 before entering a mandatory phase in 2026, according to the Malaysia Plastics Sustainability Roadmap. Little has been heard about the progress, though.

“From the PGC point of view, we hope it can be implemented soon. The federal government is working on it. EPR can incentivise development of eco-friendly packaging and encourage the responsible disposal and recycling of single-use plastic,” says Tan.

To ensure the success of the circular economy when it comes to plastic, the EPR needs to be mainstreamed across the plastic value chain and not as a corporate social responsibility activity, says Nik Nazmi. “This will be supplemented with a legal framework to ensure its workability and ease of monitoring,” he adds.

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