THE STAR
PETALING JAYA: Shoppers throughout the country will now have to pay 20 sen for each plastic bag when they shop at hypermarkets, supermarkets and Petronas service stations on Saturdays.The move, which is already in force in Selangor and introduced to reduce the eight billion plastic bags used each year in Malaysia, caught many shoppers by surprise.
Other developments:
> The sum charged will go to a special fund which will benefit the environment and community;
> Shoppers in Penang will have to pay for their bags in these outlets every day; and
> Plastic industry players in Penang have expressed unhappiness, vowing to distribute 30,000 free bags in defiance of the move.
FAKTA:
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Dianggarkan sebanyak 500 billion bag plastik digunakan setiap tahun di seluruh dunia… pada kadar sejuta helai seminit.
- Bag plastik mengambil masa lebih kurang 500 tahun untuk reput secara semula jadi.
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secara purata setiap orang menggunakan 296 helai bag plastik bagi 27 juta penduduk Malaysia.Jika di Malaysia kita menggunakan sebanyak 8 billion bag plastik setahun.
- Kemanakah bag plastic ini pergi?. Di bakar, di tanam, di gunakan semula, di makan haiwan atau di buang merata-rata…
- Pengurangan bag plastic juga akan mengurangkan pengeluaran CO2. Bag plastik menggunakan minyak sebagai bahan asas. Jika kita mampu mengurangkan 25% daripada 8 billion bag plastic ini, kita akan mengurangkan pengeluaran gas CO2 sebanyak 63 Tan setahun,; bersamaan dengan pengurangan sebanyak 18000 kereta di jalan raya. (Sumber: The Christian Science Monitor 2007)
