The Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) has launched a MAR600,000 ($0.18m) public education campaign aimed at reducing litter.
MPMA said its campaign would rely on newspaper advertisements and printed plastic shopping bags with anti-litter messages, in addition to working with schools and beach groups.
The move follows once-a-week ban on stores giving out free shopping bags imposed by the government, amid suggestions by several environmental groups for the bag ban to be extended.
Funding for the campaign will leverage with more government spending on reducing waste and recycling, said MPMA President Lim Kok Boon.
According to the association, the campaign would run in several phases, with later phases focusing on promoting reduce, reuse and recycle; and sustainability.
Malaysian deputy housing minister Yang Berusaha Encik Yong Bun Fou said the waste generated by the country was 17,000 metric tons a day in 2002, which has jumped to 25,000 tons.
