No more free plastic bags in Penang from Jan 1

Going to Penang anytime soon? Do remember to bring along your own shopping bag as Penang's ruling on ‘No Free Plastic Bags’ and ‘No Polystyrene at Local Council Hawker Centres’ will take effect tomorrow, Jan 1, 2011. This is in line with Penang's objective to reduce the state's carbon footprint as announced earlier by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng when tabling the 2011 Budget earlier.

The ruling will cover all hypermarkets, supermarkets, departmental stores, pharmacies, fast food restaurants, nasi kandar outlets, convenience stores including petrol kiosks and chain stores.

Mini markets and sole proprietorship businesses will have to adhere to the plastic ruling on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in order to ensure the renewal of their licences.

Of course, you can request for a plastic bag but each plastic bag will cost you 20 sen. Money collected from the sale of plastic bags will be channelled to ‘Partners Against Poverty’ Special Fund to help the state’s hardcore poor.

However, if you buy in volume you can request for a used cardboard box or paper bag. They will be made available at shopping outlets and hypermarkets. No mention of charges for these though.

Random checks will be conducted by government department officers to ensure adherence to the ruling.