Hong Kong will ban disposable plastic tableware from next April, as lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill aimed at making the city “plastic-free.”
The Legislative Council (LegCo) passed the Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2023 on Wednesday in its first meeting after the summer recess. The ban will be introduced two phases, with the first regulations implemented on April 22, 2024 to mark Earth Day, a spokesperson for the Environment and Ecology Bureau (EEB) said in a Wednesday press release.
In the first phase, the sale and distribution of plastic tableware will be banned, including polystyrene straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, and cups.
Restaurants will be prohibited from providing plastic tableware to customers for dine-in. Hotels and guesthouses will also be banned from providing plastic toiletries and plastic-bottled water in rooms.
| Control measures | Disposable plastic products | |
| Phase 1 | Phase 2 | |
| Ban sale and free distribution | – cotton buds – balloon sticks – inflatable cheer sticks – glow sticks – party hats – oxo-degradable plastic products (regardless of disposability) – umbrella bags – food sticks – plastic toothpicks | – multipack rings – table cloths – plastic stemmed dental floss |
| Ban free distribution | – hotel and guesthouse toiletries (including plastic-handled toothbrushes, plastic-packed toothpaste, shower caps, razors, nail files, combs, as well as shampoo, body wash, conditioners, body lotions and hand sanitisers packed in disposable plastic containers) and plastic-bottled water provided in hotel rooms – plastic-packaged tissue paper for promotional use – non-medical use transparent gloves | – ear plugs |
| Ban manufacturing | – oxo-degradable plastic products (regardless of disposability) | |
The second phase is tentatively set to begin in 2025, depending on the availability and affordability of non-plastic or reusable alternatives. It will see a ban on the sale and distribution of multipack rings, tablecloths, and plastic-stemmed dental floss.
“We encourage the trade to get prepared early for the relevant control measures, and jointly build a plastic-free culture,” the spokesperson for the EEB said.
The ban will come into effect after the municipal solid waste charging scheme starts on April 1 next year.
Some lawmakers and environmentalists have expressed concern over the close implementation of two policies that will “significantly impact” industry and the city’s residents: “The succession [of the implementation of two policies] will make it difficult for the industry,” Tommy Cheung, of the catering functional constituency, said in Cantonese during the legislative meeting on Wednesday.
Enact ban on ‘disposability’ – Greenpeace
Greeners Action, an NGO working on food waste reduction in Hong Kong, said in a press release on Wednesday that “the short amount of time given to the citizens to adapt to two new legislation could result in bounce back.”
Leanne Tam, an environmentalist from Greenpeace, told HKFP that it is for the benefit of people and industry that the government has specified the commencement date of the first-phase ban. She urged the government to do the same with the second-phase ban, so that people could get prepared.
While Tam welcomed the legislation as a step forward in reducing plastic waste in the city, she said it is more important to be concerned of the use of disposable tableware, regardless of the material: “Besides the ban on plastic, ‘disposability’ is the main issue,” Tam told HKFP in Cantonese. “In the long-run, disposable tableware [regardless of the material] is not a good option, and we encourage the government and enterprises to promote the use of reusable tableware.”
Tam encouraged the promotion of reusable and rentable tableware, saying that some coffee shops in the city have already been providing customers with reusable coffee cups.
“Taipei, Toyko, Seoul, Busan, and Singapore are all doing this [the promotion of reusable tableware], I hope Hong Kong could promote its use systematically,” Tam added.
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