Retail businesses in Jakarta are ready to welcome a regulation banning single-use plastic bags, while business associations are criticizing the move. Association of Indonesian Retailers (Aprindo) head Roy Nicholas Mandey said the city should only reduce the use of plastic bags instead of banning them. “Aprindo regrets the ban when it should have only been reduced,” Roy said on Tuesday, kompas.com reported. “Article 3[2] of Presidential Regulation No. 97/2017 also said reduced [plastics use], there is no mention of a ban,” he said. He said the result of those regulations were the use of nationally certified (SNI) biodegradable plastic bags recommended by the National Standardization Agency (BSN), in accordance with a recommendation from the Environment and Forestry Ministry. He said the biodegradable plastic bags had been used in 35,000 retailers. However, the association would still follow Jakarta’s single use plastic ban once it was … [Read more...] about Plan to ban plastic bags in Jakarta met with mixed response
Plastic bags ban
I won’t stop using plastic bags, so please ban them
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By Emma Teitel National Columnist Wed., June 13, 2018 There was a brief moment in time when a plastic bag blowing in the wind was a thing of high art. That moment occurred in September of 1999 with the release of the film American Beauty, in which two morose teenagers fall in love watching video footage of a white grocery bag “dancing” in the air on a gusty day. But that time has passed. These days, plastic bags do not turn up in Oscar winning films about American ennui but in the stomachs of whales. Last year Norwegian researchers euthanized a distressed beached whale and upon conducting an autopsy of the mammal, they found 30 plastic bags in its intestinal system. Early this month another whale died as a result of human pollution; this one in southern Thailand after it swallowed a total of 80 plastic bags. Article Continued Below This news is obviously disturbing but it isn’t all that surprising. A study published in 2014 by the … [Read more...] about I won’t stop using plastic bags, so please ban them
Malaysia targets nationwide ban on plastic bags within a year: Minister
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government will work to educate the public and raise awareness before introducing a nationwide ban on plastic bags within the span of a year, said Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin in an interview published by online news portal MalaysiaKini on Monday (May 28).Zuraida said she believes awareness of why the government wants to implement the ban is still low, despite similar bans enforced in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Selangor, Melaka and Johor."Malaysians still have the attitude of wanting everything so easy, they want to have plastic bags so they can bring their items home,” she said, adding that the public should give the government some time to hold public engagements and educational programmes.In February, Pakatan Harapan politician Dr Mahathir Mohamad criticised Barisan Nasional’s plan to “reintroduce plastic bags in Selangor, calling it “bad for the future” due to the amount of waste it will … [Read more...] about Malaysia targets nationwide ban on plastic bags within a year: Minister
The monstrous scale of plastic bag wastage in Singapore
SINGAPORE: If each person in Singapore uses 1.6 plastic bags a day, the country would guzzle enough petroleum in a year to drive 8,555 cars round the world.That is not a hypothetical situation.It takes 37 million kg of crude oil and 12 million kg of natural gas to produce three billion plastic bags – the amount the Republic was already consuming in a year by 2011.And the 1.6 bags that comes to per person per day is twice as many as the average Malaysian uses and thrice the figure in Australia.“A lot of Singaporeans see plastic bag usage as a right, not a privilege,” said Ms Jessica Cheam, the founder of online publication Eco-Business. “The problem is that people take far more bags than they need.”This issue of wastage came up in Parliament last month when the Government said that imposing a charge or ban on disposable plastic bags and substituting them with other types of disposable bags is unlikely to improve environmental outcomes.But as Talking Point … [Read more...] about The monstrous scale of plastic bag wastage in Singapore
No one is applauding BN’s promise of ‘free plastic bags’ if party wins Selangor poll – here’s why
Barisan Nasional (BN ) has promised to bring back free plastic bags if it should recapture Selangor in the upcoming 14th general election.According to Malaysiakini, Selangor BN information chief Mohamed Satim Diman said at a dialogue on Feb 18: “This is part of the BN manifesto, if BN gets back the Selangor government, no more payments for plastic bags. Do you want this?”The ruling federal coalition will also cease the practice of making shoppers pay 20 sen (USD0.05) if they want plastic bags when buying groceries.Satim added that the Selangor government would set up a production factory to ensure free usage.However, the proposal has failed to entice and has generated considerable backlash concerning efforts to protect the environment.According to Free Malaysia Today, state executive councillor Phee Boon Poh said the mere suggestion to give free plastic bags when out shopping was against every effort to cut down the use of plastic bags in the country.“It is … [Read more...] about No one is applauding BN’s promise of ‘free plastic bags’ if party wins Selangor poll – here’s why