Styrofoam is yet again a major culprit in contaminating the eastern waters of Hong Kong, according to NGO Living Seas Hong Kong.
David O’Dwyer, the chairman of the organisation, said that the main source of styrofoam is packaging and lunch boxes.
Volunteers from the group participated in the 2016 Hong Kong Cleanup campaign last Saturday by clearing Bayside Beach and Clearwater Bay.
They were split into two teams – one that cleaned underwater litter and another that cleared the shoreline.
The teams collected almost 500 kilograms of rubbish this year, compared to 2015, when 351 kilograms were collected by a greater number of volunteers.
Living Seas Hong Kong said that the beach was “found in poor condition [during] this year’s cleanup” and that there was “more plastic and polystyrene than they have seen in recent cleanups.”
It also said that “styrofoam waste [breaks] down into thousands and thousands of very small pieces” and “extra effort was needed to remove them.” It called for a larger effort to halt the build-up of trash.
As part of the campaign, the types and quantity of trash are recorded and analysed to better understand and resolve the issue.
