Malaysia Says Money in Bioplastics for SME

Its chief executive officer, Dr Mohd Shuhaizam Mohd Zain said the country has the policies, technologies, knowledge, infrastructure, and feedstock required to create a dynamic and conducive ecosystem for the development of bioplastic.

He said government policies such as the circular economy focus in the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021-2025 and the Roadmap Towards No Single-Use Plastic 2018-2030 by the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC) provided strong support for the bioplastics industry to grow.

To this end, he said neighbouring countries like Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand that are major producers of starch, sugar and biopolymers respectively, could also capitalise on the bioresin conversion technologies available in Malaysia to produce bioplastic materials.