The fee currently applies to over 2,000 retailers. After testing the fee for one year, the Hong Kong government plans extend the fee to all retailers in the city. (Channel News Asia)
The fee was pushed by Secretary of the Environment, Edward Yau, who acknowledged that Hong Kong has flippantly used and disposed of plastic bags.
"The levy...provides a direct economic incentive to discourage the indiscriminate use of plastic shopping bags," Yau said. (Environmental Protection Dept.)
With seven million people living within 425 square miles, Channel News Asia reports that the average citizen uses three plastic bags per day. With numbers like those, Hong Kong citizens have been throwing away over eight billion shopping bags every year.
Pollution has plagued Hong Kong for many years. The city sits on the southeast shore of China near the Greater Pearl River Delta, where over 55,000 factories create air and land pollution. (CNN)
Three years ago, a survey was taken by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce regarding Hong Kong's pollution. Some of the results revealed people were disinclined to visit or live in such a polluted city. Of those surveyed, 78 percent of people who lived in Hong Kong wanted to leave because the lack of environmental quality. (CNN)
Now the Hong Kong government is taking measures to reduce waste and clean up the city. The government hopes the bag fee will create a decline in landfill waste by 50 percent.
All participating retailers will feature a universal sign displaying a bag and a 50-cent fee to make shoppers aware of which stores charge for plastic bags. As part of the educational component to the fee, Hong Kong's environmental department will issue magnets in four languages to citizens to ensure people remember to bring their own bag.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting. Perhaps the Bag Monsters will have mercy on you for your kind comments. Eh, probably not.