By Himanshu Bhatt.

ALMOST incessantly, governments tend to face all sorts of pressures, direct or subtle, for their policies to be twisted in favour of groups that show up flexing their financial or political muscles. In Penang a small storm has been brewing of late, that is testing the state administration’s resolve, and it comes from an unlikely source.

In July last year, the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) handed a memorandum to the Penang government, asking for the new "No Plastic Bag Day" campaign, in which retail outlets are told not to give away free plastic bags on Mondays, be reconsidered.

The state stood firm, and instead intensified the programme. From January, the campaign was extended to three days a week – from Monday to Wednesday – at major retail outlets. The requirement was made a part of their licensing conditions under the municipal councils.

To its credit, the industry has been direct and up-front about how it has been affected by the policy. But one cannot help but wonder how the government would have reacted had the pressure come from a more powerful lobby group.

It is a fact that the industries have been smarting. For almost 90 per cent of plastic bags factories in the northern region cater for the local market. And on the average, they are now seeing production plummeting by 30 per cent, with a few being affected by as much as 75 per cent.

But this is a situation that the industry itself has little choice but to adapt to. With environmental awareness increasing, many cities around the world have started showing a tough stance against plastic bags, due to their reputed polluting and non-biodegradable nature, Penang was the first to implement such a ruling in Malaysia.

Earlier this week [around mid April] the MPMA showed up at the doors of the state government again, this time with a petition that bluntly called the campaign "a disappointment to many, especially plastic manufacturers".

The state once again turned down the petition – but not without stressing that it had no intention to be "unfriendly" to the plastics business. It was just that the environmental problems associated with discarded plastics were immense that as a government it had little choice but to promote on a large-scale a deterrent programme.

If one knew the volume of plastic bags in our daily garbage and how they choke our drainage system, one may understand why the state government is acting so tough. Plastics make up about 15 per cent to 17 per cent of Penang’s wastes.

As many as 25.2 million plastic bags, or 2.5 million pieces a month, were given away in 2008 in just six major groups of supermarkets and hypermarkets. If one were to add that sum with the millions of unaccounted for bags distributed by retailers, hawkers and other traders, the state faces a massive problem in waste management.

But what made the association’s visit this time particularly interesting was that it proposed a new bio-degradable plastic that is more friendly to the environment. Called "Oxo-biodegradable plastic", it is said to harmlessly fragment and biodegrade in a predetermined time to nothing more than water, with a tiny amount of humus carbon dioxide.

The biodegradable plastic could even be ingested by animals and would dissolve in the stomach aided by body acids, the association claimed.

The state welcomed the idea, but nevertheless rejected the MPMA’s proposal that the material be allowed to be given away free by retail outlets on campaign days.

The industry is doing what it must do to survive – it is adapting. For public perception today has changed drastically, in particular with regard to the environment.

But just as importantly also, the stance the state government takes against the plastic industry’s objections is a test of its principle and commitment. One can only wish that all our governments could be so firm and principled against the throngs of lobbyists and pressure groups on the many other issues that they are forced to reckon with every day.

**Reproduced with permission. This article first appeared in the April 22, 2010 issue of theSun. Himanshu is the newspaper's Penang bureau chief.

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