The minister said the grocery retail chains, which have close to 8,000 outlets nationwide, pledged to help Malaysia achieve its goal of eliminating single-use plastics by 2030.
This effort will also help reduce as much as 200 million single-use plastics in Malaysia each year, he said, encouraging all Malaysians to support this and bring their own grocery bags instead.
According to the minister, some retailers had begun similar campaigns much earlier. The country spent more than US$480 million annually to manage waste disposal sites and public cleanliness.