Illustrative photo (Photo: baotainguyenmoitruong.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – The Malaysian government is working on fronts to phase out single-use non-biodegradable plastics by promoting alternatives and sustainable substances in plastic production, in line with the Malaysia Plastics Sustainability Roadmap 2021-2030, Malaysian news agency Bernama reported on October 5.
Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was quoted by Bernama as saying that the country is also finding ways to encourage informal sector entrepreneurs such as warung and smaller stalls, which play a huge part in the community, to remove single-use plastics and replace them with biodegradable ones.
Nik Nazmi told the media that the government needs to ensure the plastics they have will truly be biodegradable as most of it currently still needs to be taken to factories or plants and biodegrade in a controlled environment.
He noted that standards agency SIRIM had come out with the SIRIM Ecolabel to make sure that products in the market are not greenwashing and misleading to consumers. "At the same time, we are encouraging as many players as possible (shift to biodegradable) into the scene," he said.
Nik Nazmi also said that the Malaysian government is making efforts to get local councils in states to be involved in green initiatives and encourage them to compete with one another and feature their developments in overcoming challenges./.
