The country that ranks second on the list of annual per capita plastics use in Asia is now coming up with an innovative solution to single-use plastics.

Malaysia is trying to install machines all over the country that can dispense daily-use liquid products like hand sanitizer, handwash liquid, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, fabric softener, floor cleaner, glass cleaner etc, for people to just come by and refill their old bottles.

Though the concept of refilling your shampoo bottles, for instance, has been around for a while, it usually involves tracking down a speciality store (or two, if you’re living in a big, fancy city), driving up there just to get your shampoo, and driving back.

Malaysia, in this case, wins the cake of convenience because it plans to install these vending machines in multiple locations all over the country. We’d say it’s a good strategy to augment the habit of reuse, before getting into the logistics of recycling, which, as time has shown, do not always function smoothly!