Restaurants unprepared for single-use plastic ban

The catering sector is still looking for alternatives to plastic utensils for takeaway customers, as the ban on single-use plastic looms.

Speaking on the radio yesterday, Institute of Dining Professionals chairman Ray Chui Man-wai said customer feedback of the replacement has been negative.

"Other materials are not like plastic, as they are relatively dense. Drinks and sauce of dishes may leak out when customers take their food away if we switch to other materials," Chui said.

He said many restaurants have trialed paper straws or flour straws but received negative feedback from customers.

The Environmental Protection Department has provided the sector with a list of eligible manufacturers for tableware production and restaurants will start trial of new materials as soon as March, he said.

Chui also said using other materials to replace plastic will double or triple the cost but he said the increased cost will not be borne by customers.

The government will ban merchants and retailers from providing or selling disposable plastic products, such as plastic tableware, cotton buds and plastic toothpicks, from April 22.

Those who violate the law can be subjected to a maximum penalty of HK$100,000, but law enforcers can also issue a fixed penalty ticket of HK$2,000.

A pharmacy unionist said they are not ready for the ban, claiming that some pharmacies have no idea when cotton buds and plastic toothpicks will be outlawed.

Speaking in the same program, Hong Kong General Chamber of Pharmacy vice chairman Cheung Tak-wing said the EPD has yet to inform the sector about the new policy.

Cheung urged clear guidelines from the government while saying he is confident that stored cotton buds with plastic sticks and plastic toothpicks can be cleared before the implementation.

Meanwhile, Hongkongers will also have to buy designated bags to dump their domestic rubbish starting August 1, with government buildings taking the lead on April 1.

Shun Chi-Ming, a member of the Council for Carbon Neutrality and Sustainable Development and former Hong Kong Observatory director, said Hongkongers are still not ready for the solid waste charge scheme.

People are not sure how much waste can be recycled and question whether the scheme can reduce the amount of waste and not increase their financial burden, he said.

Shun suggested authorities learn from overseas experience in waste reduction and recycling.

Ken So Kwok-yin, chief executive of the Conservancy Association, said many citizens are not aware of the goal of waste charging or how it will be implemented, appealing to the government to enhance explanation to citizens and ease their confusion.

Authorities will provide a HK$10 subsidy for Hongkongers receiving CSSA after the waste charging scheme takes effect on August 1.