State to step up green campaign.

The people can still use plastic bags to throw their household waste until a proper system to sort out waste is introduced.

Penang Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said “waste sorting at the source” would be the state’s next step after their bid to reduce plastic bag usage.

“We may introduce the use of two bins, instead of the common five bins, to sort out organic from recyclable waste.

“And, we may send out separate trucks to pick up the respective waste from residential and commercial areas,” he said .

He was speaking after opening the ‘Cleaner Greener Penang’ colouring competition at Dewan Datuk Haji Ahmad Badawi yesterday.

Chow said it might take some time before such a system could be implemented but there was a need to start creating awareness from now.

For the time being, he added, households could still dispose of their garbage, including animal entrails, old curries, soiled diapers and liquid waste, in plastic bags.

“It is good that the people are already recycling the plastic bags that they receive from shopping centres for other purposes,” he said.

Asked if the use of plastic bags that disintegrated within a few weeks were practical as garbage bags, Chow said environmentalists were concerned that the residue might be harmful to organisms when it entered the waterways.

“It is better to have the garbage transported in garbage bags to the landfill where the bags are later crushed and compacted,” he said.

On Nov 2, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that plastic bags would be banned statewide from Jan 1.

The move, to reduce the state’s carbon footprint, is an extension of the current ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ campaign in shopping centres and hypermarkets every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The ruling also covers departmental stores, pharmacies, fast food restaurants, nasi kandar outlets, convenience stores in petrol kiosks, and chain stores.

Earlier, some 300 children, aged between four and six, took part in the colouring contest which was part of the ‘Cleaner, Greener Penang’ initiative co-organised by The Star, the Penang Municipal Council and Seberang Prai Municipal Council with support from the state government.

-TheStar-