TITLE OF REPORT:
Awareness of Using Plastic Bags among the Public in Kuala Lumpur (adult student in local
public university)
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information
The awareness of not using plastic bags was started in Malaysia since July 2009 at
Penang where usage of plastic bag they were banned. The state of Pahang state also launched
the 365 days campaign to prove that its caring care and loving love for the environment. The
state encourage the people to use paper bags instead of plastic bags when shopping and the
campaign was focused more on the 3Rs which is Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
The campaign was then followed by Miri City the city of Miri which marked its city
anniversary on 1st May 2010 as they kicked off of city council’s no-plastic bag for shopping.
During the kicked off event, Miri City also set a new record in the Malaysia Book of Record
for the most eco-bag used for outdoor shopping in a stadium in one hour. On August 2010
Subang Jaya Municipal Council has launched a campaign day without a plastic bag with the
aim of making the declaration of Selangor state's first municipality in the country to
eliminate the use of plastic bags and the public are encouraged to switch to paper bags,
biodegradable carriers or reusable shopping bags and also their own shopping.
The Star Online reports that the Selangor government had declared on Dec 20, its plans to
make every Saturday a plastic bag-free day effective from Jan 1. January 2nd was the first
Saturday in which the ban was in effect, and shoppers were both surprised and pleased.
Meanwhile. This has lead to creating a big range of awareness among Malaysian citizens
about the hazards being caused by using plastic bags. The government has started to take
action and some state has already banned the usage of plastic bags on certain days. After a
while, now Malaysia has decided and declared that no plastic bags being used on Saturdays.
Effects of using the plastic bag
Environmental pollution

Plastic bags cause over 100,000 marine animal such as turtle whales, dolphins and
penguins are killed every year when animals mistaken them for food.

Plastic bags litter the landscape where every year more plastic bags are ending up
littering environment. We can see that plastic bags litter at waterways, parks, beaches and
streets.

Plastic bags are non-biodegradable because they take about 1000 years to decompose and
if burned will release toxic chemical such as DIOXIN.

The manufacture of plastic bags add tones of carbon emissions into the air annually so it
leads to green house effect.
1.2
Problem Statement
Plastic bags are used everywhere, it is because plastic bag are cheap, sturdy, easy to carry
and store anything. That is the reason why Malaysians is prefers to use plastic bags. Thus,
public find it hard to change their habit when they go to shopping as they are still using
plastic bags and did not bring their own bag like recycle or reused bag. They are also lack
of understanding and awareness about the dangers of using plastic bags which is harmful
to environment such as difficult to dispose and can change to toxic chemical.
1.3
Objective
The objective of the study is to identify the level of awareness of using plastic bags
among the public in Kuala Lumpur ( adult students in local public university )
1.4
Research Question
What is the level of awareness of using plastic bags among the public in Kuala Lumpur
(Adult students in local public University)
1.5
Significant of the Study
The study is to create awareness of the environmental dangers of using plastic bags and
to save the earth from pollution. It also to encourage shopper (Adult Students in Local
Public University) to use the recycle bag.
1.6
Scope of the study
The target audiences are public in Kuala Lumpur which is adult student in local public
university.
1.7 Methodology for data collection
Data was collect from questionnaire.
Chapter 2
2.0
Literature Review
Plastic bag is a type of packaging made of thin, flexible, plastic film, nonwoven fabric, or
plastic textile. It is also cheap to produce, sturdy, plentiful, easy to carry and store that
they have captured at least 80 percent of the grocery and convenience store market since
they were introduced a quarter century ago, according to the Arlington, Virginia-based
American Plastics Council. In 1977 plastic bags were introduced into supermarkets. The
production of plastic bags requires petroleum and often natural gas and chemicals. Its
production releases toxic to the air.
Plastic bags are non-biodegradable and one of the worst environmental effects of a plastic
bag is hard to dispose. The decomposition of plastic bags takes about 1000 years. A
plastic bag in the earth is like a toxic, difficult to be disposed of and cleaned. There are
four to five trillion plastic bags are manufactured each year and the production
contributes to air pollution and high energy consumption, of those 100 trillion plastic
bags, only 1% is recycled because the recycle cost is higher than the manufacturing cost.
It about a hundred billion plastic bags are used each year in the US alone and in 2007
about 31 million tons, or 12.1 percent of total municipal waste, was plastic.
Last year, the sixth largest supermarket group in Penang has distributed 25.2 billion
plastic per month or an average of 2.1 million per month.. Data released by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency shows that somewhere between 500 billion and
a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year and Americans throws away
almost 100 billion plastic bags every year and only 1 percent to 3 percent are ever
recycled.
Scientists and researchers estimate that every square mile of ocean contains about 46,000
pieces of floating plastic and that plastic debris acts like a sponge for toxic chemicals,
soaking up a million fold greater concentration (than surrounding water) of such deadly
compounds as PCBs and DDE. It becoming highly toxic poison and dangerous to marine
animals. This shows about 100,000 animals such as dolphins, turtles whales, penguins are
killed every year due to plastic bags. Many animals ingest plastic bags, mistaking them
for food, and therefore die and worse, the ingested plastic bag remains intact even after
the death and decomposition of the animal.
The solutions to solve this problem are to change and use the recyclable bag like paper
bag, canvas bag and basket. Paper bag is good to environment because it can be recycled.
The best choice is canvas bag, it can be washed and reused, and lasts up to 10 years on
average and also durable. Nowadays, canvas bags come with colorful designs and shapes.
It can easily be purchased at any shopping stores.
In 2001, Ireland implemented a plastic tax or PlasTax is the first of its kind, this route
acknowledges the fact that people will still occasionally use plastic bags. This marketbased solution discourages daily, thoughtless use of plastic bags by charging a nominal
fee per bag at checkout. In a study by the Irish Department of the Environment it was
found that plastic bag usage had dropped 93.5% , this breaks down to a drop from 328 to
21 bags per person each year. San Francisco also became the first American city to ban
plastic bags from large supermarkets in 2007 and the state of California requires large
stores to take back plastic bags and encourage their reuse.
3.0
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1
Introduction
This section is discuses about the methodology of the research. The main objective of the
research is to identify the level of awareness of using plastic bag among public in Kuala Lumpur
(Adult students in local public university). To evaluate the level of awareness, 10 persons of
adult student in local university were chosen as respondents. Data for the researched were
collected through questionnaire.
3.2 Research Instruments
The research utilized the quantitative research methodology. The instrument used to collect data
are questionnaire only. A set of questionnaire containing 9 questions were distributed. Different
question-types, such as yes-no and category and scales were used in the questionnaire.
3.3
Respondents of the Study
The respondents of the study were 10 persons of adult student in local public university and they
were chosen at random. Gender or age of the respondents is not an issue to this research.
3.4
Research Procedure
The data collection period started with one distribution of the questionnaire to the respondent.
The questionnaires were distributed around the local public university compound and the
respondents returned the questionnaires as soon as they finished answering the questions. The
researchers are enable to analyze the data if all questionnaires were collected.
3.5
Data Analysis
The data were entered into the computer using Microsoft Word and Excel software. Results were
presented through frequency counts and other descriptive statistics.
4.0
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
4.1
Introduction
The finding is based on the data collected from the distribution of questionnaires to ten
respondents for the study of the awareness of using plastic bag.
5.0
CONCLUSIONS (not finish yet)
This research identified the level of awareness of using plastic bag among public in Kuala
Lumpur which is adult students in public university. Primary data were collected by randomly
distributing 9 sets of questionnaires to 10 respondents while the secondary data were collected
from internet articles and journals. The coclusion are
BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.natural-environment.com

http://greenstate.penang.gov.my

http://www.adoptabeach.org.uk

http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com

http://www.theofficeguide.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

http://www.moew.gov.ae/En/AboutMinistry/Projects/Pages/Activity201009.aspx
QUESTIONNAIRE ON AWARENESS OF USING PLASTIC BAG AMONG THE PUBLIC IN
KUALA LUMPUR (Adult Students in Local Public University)
1. Do you re-use plastic bags?
Yes
No
2. What do you do with your plastic bags?
Store them
Throw them away
Recycle them
Other
3. Have you heard or read about the campaign of “Dangerous of Plastic Bags”?
Yes
No
Not sure
4. Are you aware of the effect of using the plastic bags?
Yes
No
Not Sure
5. What are the sources of your information about the dangerous of plastic bags?
Relatives and friends
School or University
TV, Radio & Newspaper
6. Do you think that the society has enough information about the dangers of plastic bags?
Sufficient
Insufficient
Requires more awareness
Do not know
7. How many pieces of plastic bag did you used daily?
0
1–4
5– 9
More than 10
8. What can you use as alternative of plastic bag?
Reusable bag
Paper bag
Basket
9. Will you continue to reduce the usage of plastic bag even though the campaign is over?
Yes
No
Not Sure
THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO FILL OUT THIS INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE