Hong Kong plastic ban: let’s aim for reusables, not green disposables

The first phase of Hong Kong’s ban on disposable plastic tableware and other single-use products will take effect in about a month, on Earth Day. Efforts to promote this plastic ban have started to appear more frequently on social and other media, including print and electronic media, and in MTR stations.

Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan recently told the Legislative Council that about 80 per cent of the 20,000 small and medium-sized restaurants surveyed by the Environmental Protection Department were unprepared.

In my view, most restaurants are unprepared for two main reasons. First, plastic-free tableware is almost certain to cost more than what caterers have been using, such as polystyrene boxes and plastic cutlery. Tse has told legislators that the prices of non-plastic alternatives such as straws, stirrers, knives, forks, spoons and plates are comparable to the plastic ones.