CHINA – The government of Hong Kong has decided to delay the implementation of its anticipated ban on single-use plastic tableware.
The ban, which was originally scheduled to take effect on October 18 of this year, has been postponed until April 22, 2024. This decision comes in response to significant backlash from various industries, who argued that the previous enforcement date did not provide enough time for stakeholders to adequately prepare.
The country’s Environment and Ecology Bureau originally proposed the bans in a “Product Environmental Responsibility (Amendment) Bill” to the Legislative Council’s Environmental Affairs Committee.
The Legislative Council agreed that the first phase would immediately outlaw dine-in and takeout styrofoam tableware, plastic drinking tubes, plastic stir sticks, plastic knives, forks, spoons, and plastic discs.
Plastic cups, lids, and food containers will also be banned for dine-in only. In the second phase, scheduled for 2025, these formats will also be subject to takeout bans.
According to the proposal in the document, anyone who violates the relevant regulations may be fined up to HK$100,000 (US$12,779.14).
There is also a fixed penalty system in which law enforcement officers can issue a fixed penalty notice of HK$2,000 (US$255).
A number of exceptions will be made for products in specific formats and for special needs, such as disabled consumers.
Prepackaged food and beverages, such as paper-wrapped drink tubes, cup noodles, and ice cream cups with forks and spoons included, for example, will not be banned.
Nor will customers with medical needs be prohibited from accessing disposable plastic drinking tubes or disposable plastic tableware used in medical or security settings, such as hospital wards or correctional facilities.
Greenpeace Hong Kong is pleased that the authorities have responded to the public’s demand for plastic elimination and have taken action.
This initiative is crucial in reducing the 266 metric tons of disposable plastic tableware that end up in landfills every day in Hong Kong. Currently, only approximately 11% of this waste is recycled.
According to Friends of the Earth Hong Kong, plastic waste accounted for 21% of Hong Kong’s municipal solid waste last year. Government statistics report that 158 metric tons of PET bottles from the city are sent to landfills every day.
Greenpeace hopes that, in addition to legislating regulations, the authorities will also introduce more reusable lending and return systems as alternatives to further achieve source reduction.
While Greenpeace is pleased with the current policies, it also expresses concerns about planning. The organization believes that the current policies do not allocate enough resources to promote alternative solutions, such as reusable tableware lending systems.
Roughly 27% of the public, based on Greenpeace’s public consultation in Hong Kong, which included 5,300 citizen respondents, agreed that disposable plastic tableware included with prepackaged food could be exempted.
However, the organization notes that prepackaged food is still included in the exemption stipulations of the proposed plan. This move may encourage the catering industry to further expand prepackaged food formats and find ways to bypass the new policies.
Greenpeace is also encouraging the adoption of reusable reward schemes, such as deposit return systems, which can provide financial incentives to consumers for complying with the law.
