Hongkongers welcome sale of designated rubbish bags

The sale of designated rubbish bags for the upcoming waste charging scheme starting Friday has been welcomed by local residents.

Authorities announced on Thursday that the designated rubbish bags will be gradually available for purchase at various retail points across the city starting today (Jan 26), including convenience stores, household goods stores, and online platforms.

Citizens have to buy specific bags and designated labels to comply with the government scheme that charges them for each bag of rubbish they throw, which is set to take effect on August 1.

Three types of designated rubbish bags were available for sale at a Lok Fu convenience store today, including 5-liter and 15-liter t-shirt bags, and 20-liter flat-top bags.

When asked whether customers could choose to purchase the designated bags instead of regular plastic bags provided by the convenience store during the transaction, the salesman offered choices between the 5-liter bag and the 15-liter bag, selling at HK$0.6 and HK$1.7 respectively.

A citizen told reporters that he knew that the designated bags were available for sale at multiple retail points starting today, which is convenient.

“I would purchase the designated bags if I need a bag to carry the goods I bought…the Hong Kong government is now charging a HK$1 levy on all types of plastic bags, so I would definitely go for the cheaper option (the 5-litre bag selling at HK$0.6), also, I can reuse it to throw garbage away when the waste charging scheme commences in August,” he said.

Another citizen also told reporters that she would purchase the bags to test them out, familiarize herself with what bag sizes her family would need.

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