The Hong Kong government earlier launched a consultation on the "Control of Disposable Plastic Tableware Program", suggesting that restaurants should be banned from providing styrofoam tableware from 2025, and that "plastic delivery" should also be banned for dine-in meals.
The consultation period ended on September 8. The Environmental Protection Department responded to the "Hong Kong 01" enquiry and stated that a total of more than 8,000 submissions were received in the preliminary enumeration. All sectors of the community generally responded positively to the proposal. The legislative process is expected to start next year.
Greenpeace, an environmental group, stated that during the consultation period, it produced a sample opinion letter for citizens who agreed to the Greenpeace initiative to forward it to the Environmental Protection Agency. In the end, a total of 5,000 people asked for it.
The template criticized the Hong Kong government’s plan to start the first phase of the ban on styrofoam tableware in 2025 for being too slow, urged the implementation of the two-year early implementation in 2023, and requested the Environmental Protection Agency to promote and assist the catering industry to provide reusable tableware rental packages.
Some catering industry also pointed out that many restaurants have responded positively to the consultation. According to preliminary statistics, 75% of the catering industry interviewed support legislation.
However, it is believed that the authorities do not have clear guidelines on substitutes for plastic tableware, so the Hong Kong government is required to list the types of qualified substitutes.
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The Environmental Protection Department launched a public consultation on the "Control of Disposable Plastic Tableware Program" in July this year. It is estimated that in 2019, every Hong Kong citizen will discard 1,940 pieces of plastic cutlery each year.
The authorities suggest that starting from 2025, styrofoam tableware delivery in restaurants should be banned, and "plastic delivery" should not be allowed for dine-in meals.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, among the more than 8,000 submissions collected during the consultation period, generally responding positively to the suggestions, stressing that it will carefully study and consider the relevant comments received to chart the way forward.
Greenpeace: 5,000 people request a template to ban styrofoam tableware two years earlier
Greenpeace, an environmental group, said that during the consultation period, more than 5,000 people agreed to its proposal and asked for a consultation opinion and emailed it to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Groups criticized that the timetable in the current proposal is too slow and ambiguous. The implementation of the first phase of control measures will need to wait until 2025, and the second phase is far away indefinitely.
Therefore, in the submission, the authorities are urged to speed up the pace. The first phase will be implemented in 2023; the second phase will be implemented until 2025.
In addition, Greenpeace's submission requested the authorities to set up a "reusable tableware set schedule" to promote the popularization of reusable tableware to prevent the transfer of pollution.
Regarding the authorities’ proposal to exempt the disposable plastic tableware attached to prepackaged food, Greenpeace also opposes the exemption and urges "to truly eliminate the production and use of plastic tableware."
The catering industry supports the hope that the authorities set up guidelines to prescribe qualified alternatives
The Chairman of the Hong Kong Catering Management Association, Leung Zhenhua, said that according to his knowledge, the industry has responded positively to the consultation. About 300 members of the association have submitted submissions to the government. 75% of them support legislation to regulate disposable plastic tableware and agree that it should be implemented in stages.
However, Liang Zhenhua said bluntly that many opinions reflect that the government does not have clear guidelines for the replacement of disposable plastic tableware.
Leung believes that although tableware suppliers have many alternatives, the industry does not know whether they meet the requirements of the law. Used".
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