'It is not so much that Malaysians don't care, its just that they are unaware. Attitudes to plastics and waste lag at least 10 years behind the west, people throw things away without a thought or worry. Environmental concerns are still niche here - it's not mainstream" Henry Goh, President, Malaysia Nature Society.

According to Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA), it was estimated that the average Malaysian uses about 300 plastic bags a year. With a population of 30 million, it’s estimated that 9 billion bags are used in the country every year.

Environment and waste management specialist Dr. Theng Lee Chong says that the average is even higher, Malaysian easily takes away between three and five plastic bags per day.

A study published in Science by Jambeck and his associates in 2015, estimated that, out of 192 coastal countries in the world, Malaysia is the eighth largest producer of mismanaged plastic wastes.

Instead of punishing people for forgetting to bring a bag, let's reward them for bringing them back. By simply adding a simple change to the design, a barcode, we transform the bag into an ongoing discount, an incentive. Creating a regular, habit forming reward that actively changes behaviour.

A BAG EVERYONE WANTS TO REMEMBER

Financial: Its an endless voucher. A financial incentive that helps breed repetitive behaviour, even if you don't care about the environment - you profit from re-use. You get 20cents off your bill every time you use a bag.

Design: A pattern, lot a logo. A cute animal, not bold claim. Made to be fashionable and attractive to carry.

Eco: The fish, whale, turtle represent the Malaysian marine life most at risk - creating a psychological link to the impact of re-use.

We designed the UB to be a bag people WANT to carry.

The Fish, Turtle and Whale - were extended as campaign characters throughout the store on multiple POS materials - Posters, Aprons, Checkout Banners, scanner wraps.

At launch, an animated film, in our distinctive design style, helped launch the concept worldwide - made to be hugely sharable with eco influencers.

Sold for 50 cents, the bag has an unlimited rebate of 20 cents. So users only have to re-use three times to be actually making a profit from their positive behaviour.

The bags are made of recyclable material, replaced for free when worn out and recycled into new bags.

Trialled initally in 11 stores, the UB campaign was rapidly adopted nationwide to all 56 stores.

The bag instantly became the Best Selling re-usable bag in all stores.

On average, 5% of Tesco customers re-use their bag.

In the first month 68% of customers re-used their UB - making it 14x more effective in reducing single-use bags.

At current rate - UB will have prevented over 5 million single use bags.

PR Coverage for the launch spread instantly to over 70 countries helping Tesco's sustainability reputation worldwide.

Internally the creative idea has been presented at Global board level - with UK, Thailand and India specifically requesting design and implementation plans.

The Turtle, Fish and Whale characters are now an integral part of the Tesco Malaysia school programme - also used in colouring books and puzzles to educate.

Re-usable bags have been around for years, but not enough people are using them. They are too easy to forget because there isn't a compelling enough reason to remember.

Our target audience is the massive majority of customers for whom the ecological argument is just not strong enough.

Priced at 50cents - the lowest price point of any re-usable bag

The barcodes are integrated into the form of the animals most at risk from plastics in the ocean, forming an attractive and very distinctive pattern. The design style is simple and cute - to appeal to the widest spectrum of customers from young to old.

Animal designs used as their own characters for school and educational visits

Tesco are proud members of Champions 12.3, a coalition of leaders chaired by Tesco CEO Dave Lewis. This group is dedicated to accelerating progress towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Target 12.

Tesco is the world's 3rd largest retailer - as such has a huge responsibility for the entire supply chain, including the bags it supplies to customers.

Worldwide, many Tesco countries such as the UK have banned single-use bags. But with just 5% of Malaysian customers re-using bags, the customer behaviour has to change significantly before a ban can be implemented.

BRIEF

Accelerate the reduction in single use bags and help position Tesco as a leading sustainability champion and help build the path to total ban by 2020.

OBJECTIVE

Encourage customers to bring back bags every time they shop.

Educate customers on the impact of plastic bags

Help to significantly change long-term behaviour to allow for the eventual phasing out of single-use bags