Explainer | Plastic not fantastic: is Hong Kong ready for ban on throwaway items starting next month?
- Government to post warnings at immigration checkpoints and hotels to remind travellers to have their own hygiene products, such as razors, because of the ban
- Styrofoam containers to be outlawed, but other types of disposable food containers will still be available
The catering trade will also be forbidden to provide dine-in customers with single-use plastic cups and boxes.
The handout and sale of items such as glow sticks, thunder sticks and plastic-stemmed cotton buds will also be barred.
The Post has summed up how different sectors in the city have prepared for the ban and what areas people should pay attention to.
1. Can you use your own containers for takeaways?
Environmental authorities launched a bring-your-own-containers scheme last September to encourage restaurants to accept customers’ own boxes or cups when they order takeaway food and drink, or to offer reusable container lending services to customers.
A check by the Post on the scheme’s official website on Thursday found that about 470 restaurants had joined the scheme, only a fraction of the close to 13,000 in the city.
