Consumer Participation and Effectiveness of the No Plastic Bag Day Program in Malaysia

Abstract

In 2011, Malaysia introduced the No Plastic Bag Day program where stores charge a levy of MYR0.20 (USD0.06) on ach plastic bag used. Based on observations, participation in the program is moderate, with 47.7% of consumers willingly paid the levy. Those who bring their own bags are mostly female, Malay and Chinese customers. Consumers in the central region tend to avoid the levy. Based on findings of study, the NPBD program is 52.3% effective. In order to discourage the use of plastic bags, the government may need to reconsider the amount of levy charged on consumers. Keywords: public participation; effectiveness; plastic bag; levyeISSN 2398-4295 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.