Time to kick the plastic bag habit

In 2011, the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry introduced the “No Plastic Bag Day” campaign, where on every Saturday, plastic bags were no longer provided for free in hypermarkets, supermarkets, departmental stores, convenience shops and selected business premises all over the nation. Those who still need the plastic bags have to pay 20 sen for each piece.

The campaign, if it is still running, is now in the seventh year. While I do not see any progression in sight at the Federal Government level, some state governments, however, have, on their own initiative, drawn up a timeline to have a total ban on the use of plastic bags.

The ministry can learn a thing or two from Ikea Malaysia — reported to be the first retailer in the country to stop using plastic bags — on how it did it.

The Swedish retailer took only three years to “convert” its customers in Malaysia to either use reusable shopping bags or other means to carry their purchases.

It first introduced the “Kick the Plastic Bag Habit” campaign in June 2009, where customers were initially charged 20 sen for each plastic bag used. Beginning July 2011, it stopped offering plastic bags. Instead, it made available to its customers the blue carrier bags of different sizes. They can either buy these bags or use the free carton boxes, which are available after the check-out counters.

Now, how many of us go to Ikea to shop and had to buy blue Frakta carrier bags to put our purchases in? And, how many of us forget to bring that same bag on the next Ikea trip, resulting in having to buy another bag? I can tell you that I am one of them. I now have the Frakta bags in mini, medium and large sizes, and also the zippered cart bag. And, I still forget to bring them along on other Ikea trips.

If I don’t buy the bag, I will have to carry all the purchased items with my hands. If I have more than five items in the trolley, I would surely grab one of the Frakta bags before I reach the check-out counter. So, in a way, I was compelled to buy the bag.

It is not readily known if the ministry had done a study on the effectiveness of the 2011 campaign or if it had commissioned a third party to undertake one. A quick search on the worldwide web showed several studies done by academia. One is by a team from the Centre of Economics and Finance, Faculty of Business Management at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Shah Alam, which conducted a study on the effectiveness of the campaign two years after it was launched.

Its findings, based on 560 observations carried out on three consecutive Saturdays in October 2013, showed that the campaign was 52.3 per cent effective in making consumers stop using plastic bags. The consumers used reusable grocery bags or other means to carry their purchases.

The bulk of the observations was carried out at supermarkets and hypermarkets, while the remaining were at specialised stores, mini-markets and convenience stores. It excluded wet, night or day markets and restaurants, as these outlets sell prepared food and wet grocery items, and are discouraged from using reusable grocery bags due to health safety and hygiene reasons.

From its findings, we can see that there is acceptance of the campaign. I would want to believe that if a similar study is done now, the numbers would have gone up as there could possibly be more people who would have caught on the idea of not using plastic bags.

The UiTM team recommended that awareness of the programme should be increased to heighten the level of effectiveness and participation of the public in the campaign.

“One way is to generate a culture of bringing bags when shopping and making the practice more convenient, especially to males as they are less likely to bring bags when shopping. As the behaviour of bringing bags is not likely to depend on programme information brought by in-store posters and flyers, social media can be used to inform and educate the public on the importance of a change of habit towards using less plastic bags,” it said.

I don’t think it is enough for just the retailers to put up banners and posters, and distribute flyers to their customers on the “No Plastic Bag Day” campaign. There needs to be a comprehensive public awareness campaign by the ministry across all media channels, including social media, to inform and educate the public on the importance of changing the habit.

The Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association has been reported as saying that the average Malaysian uses 300 plastic bags a year.

It also recommended that the government reconsider the amount charged on consumers to discourage the use of plastic bags during shopping. A 20 sen charge hardly burns anyone’s pockets. Its study showed that 47.7 per cent of consumers paid for plastic bags.

Retailers could also make the reusable bags cheaper. Ikea’s Frakta bags, for example, are priced between RM1 and RM1.90, while the zippered cart bag is priced at less than RM10.

After seven years, I personally think that the ministry is ready to take the campaign one level up. The public has been given more than enough time to be ready to live without plastic bags.