But it’s worth asking – how did this come to be in the first place?

It all began in the 1930s, when British chemists accidentally created polyethylene – a strong, flexible substance that would become the material of choice for shopping bags.

But it wasn’t until 1965 that Swedish engineer Sten Gustaf Thulin designed the modern plastic bag of today: a flat, one-piece carrier made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

Surprisingly, he had a noble goal – reusability. Thulin’s son later revealed that his father had envisioned people folding these bags into their pockets, using them over and over again.

Ironically, what began as an environmentally-minded alternative to paper has now become one of the world’s most problematic pollutants.

In the 1970s and 1980s, paper and cloth bags across Europe and the US were being replaced, seduced by plastic’s low cost, strength, and water resistance.

Soon plastic bags were everywhere: wet markets, hawker stalls, bookstores. More innovations followed, including ziplock bags, and drawstring garbage bags.

By 2011, the world was using over one million plastic bags every single minute. Today, estimates range from one to two trillion bags per year, at a staggering cost of about 100 million barrels of oil annually.

The first alarm bells rang in the late 1990s, when sailor Charles Moore stumbled upon the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating gyre of plastic waste.

Scientists soon found plastic bags clogging rivers, choking marine life, and breaking down into microplastics now found in everything from deep-sea trenches to table salt.

Sea turtles mistake them for jellyfish. Cows and goats consume them near landfills. Plastic bags don’t biodegrade – they simply fragment, lingering in the environment for hundreds of years.

One often cited warning: by 2050, the ocean may contain more plastic by weight than fish.

Countries began fighting back. In 2002, Bangladesh became the first to ban single-use plastic bags after floods were worsened by drains clogged with them.

Other countries followed – India, Rwanda, Kenya. Today over 60 nations institute bans, taxes, or strict controls over usage of plastic bags.

Kenya’s law, passed in 2017, is among the world’s toughest, with potential jail time for those caught manufacturing or using plastic bags.

In Malaysia, plastic bags remain part of daily life. In fact, about nine billion plastic bags are used annually, making Malaysia one of the highest per capita users of plastic bags in the region.

But change is happening. In 2009, Penang became the first state to launch a “No Free Plastic Bag” campaign, charging 20 sen per bag. Other states gradually adopted similar measures.

Selangor implemented the “No Plastic Bag Day” on Saturdays in 2010, with a recent extension to include Fridays and Sundays. In 2018, Malaysia rolled out its “Roadmap Towards Zero Single-Use Plastics (2018–2030)”.

Recent steps show progress. In early 2025, the federal government announced a ban on single-use plastic bags in all parks and major retail outlets.

Penang, again leading the way, implemented their daily plastic bag ban in March, to completely eliminate single-use bags by September 2025.

Meanwhile, scientists and innovators are racing to create better alternatives, like seaweed-based bioplastics. The hope is to replace plastic without creating new environmental trade-offs.

In Malaysia, research bodies like SIRIM are developing durable, compostable bags that meet local needs.

Yet, experts warn that material alone won’t solve the problem. Even paper and cloth bags can carry larger carbon footprints if not reused often enough.

The real goal is a circular economy – where waste is minimised, products are reused, and sustainability becomes the norm.

So this “International Plastic Bag Free Day”, remember: the issue isn’t just about the bags in your hands, but the system behind them.

A product created to help the planet has become one of its biggest threats. But with innovation, policy, and a shift in habits, the story can change.