KUALA LUMPUR: Over RM57mil has been collected in plastic bag charges in Selangor and Penang from 2009 to 2024.
Of the total, RM38,048,240.26 was collected in Selangor from 2020 to 2023 while Penang collected RM19,424,867.10 from 2009 to 2024, said the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry in a written reply dated July 19.
Penang and Selangor have imposed a 20sen charge for each plastic bag since 2009 and 2020 respectively.
"Input from the Selangor and Penang state governments indicate that the requirement indirectly reduced the demand for single-use plastic bags.
"Imposing a charge for plastic bags is not aimed at collecting public funds but instead to increase awareness and educate the public to use reusable bags when shopping," said the ministry.
It added that implementing the plastic bag charge is still at the early stages in Perak, Kedah and Terengganu.
"Other states that have not implemented this are actively carrying out awareness campaigns to reduce single-use plastic bags," it said in response to a question from Siti Mastura Muhammad (PN-Kepala Batas) who asked about the amount collected from each state and if the "no plastic bag" campaign had achieved its target.
