Selangor Eateries Will Stop Providing Customers With Plastic Straws From 1 July
The goal behind the ban is to eliminate single-use plastics.
By Sadho Ram — 18 May 2019, 03:47 PM
Starting 1 July, eateries in Selangor will stop using plastic straws
Hee Loy Sian, the chairman of Selangor Environment, Green Technology and Consumer Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment Committee, said that the state would prohibit eateries from habitually providing customers with single-use plastic straws.
"We will instruct all eateries, be they restaurants or neighbourhood coffee shops to stop providing plastic straws with every drink. They must also not put straws on tables for customers to take freely," he said, as reported by The Star Online.
Eateries are, however, allowed to give a plastic straw to a customer upon request.
The state government is taking this step to eliminate single-use plastics, in an attempt to protect the environment
"Our aim is to change people's habit of using plastic drinking straws.
"We hope that before they get up from their seat to ask for a straw, they will think about the litter and destruction caused by these straws to marine life," Hee said.
The Star Online reported him adding that while the process of changing people's mindset is a gradual one, the Selangor government is determined.
While Malaysia will fully enforce a nationwide ban on plastic straws by next year, several restaurants in the country have already stopped providing plastic straws, the English daily reported
Meanwhile, eateries in Selangor who are found ignoring the ban and continuing to automatically give straws with drinks after 1 July will be issued "a gentle reminder" by the respective local councils, chairman Hee was reported as saying today, 18 May.