Knock Plastics…
How many pieces of single-use plastics do you use for eating and drinking each day? The plastic cutlery, containers and straws do not only exist in our daily meals, they also end up in our marine environment. According to the Coastal Watch survey, these items are among the top 10 of Hong Kong marine litter, causing long-term impacts to marine life. Even if properly disposed, they take up precious space in landfills for a long time. In Hong Kong, only about 13 per cent of plastic is recovered1. Dinnerware make up 9.6 per cent of disposed plastic waste2, and are difficult to recycle due to food contamination.
To help save our marine environment, you can first, commit to not using single-use plastic tableware. You can also take the extra step of urging the food and beverage industry to stop providing plastic tableware to customers, and call on the government to regulate the use of single-use plastics in the F&B industry by 2022!
WWF-Hong Kong joins the “Drink Without Waste” initiative to call on Hong Kong to reduce single-use drinks packaging, regulate packaging standards, and raise packaging recovery and recycling. Together with leading beverage companies, major retailers, the waste industry and NGO’s urge the government to regulate single-use packaging as well as provide recycling incentives and infrastructure and initiate public awareness.
The coalition announced proposals to reduce used and discarded beverage containers that end up in Hong Kong’s landfills, countryside, beaches and the marine environment. The beverage industry pledged to implement voluntary measures to reduce waste with the goal of 70%-90% of used packaging recovery in Hong Kong by 2025.
Reference:
- Environmental Protection Department (2018). Monitoring of Solid Waste in Hong Kong – Waste Statistics for 2017, p.3
https://www.wastereduction.gov.hk/sites/default/files/msw2017.pdf - Environmental Protection Department (2018). Monitoring of Solid Waste in Hong Kong – Waste Statistics for 2017, p.11
https://www.wastereduction.gov.hk/sites/default/files/msw2017.pdf