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Peter Kammerer

The controversial 50-cent plastic bag  tax will  be implemented as soon as the end of next year  despite strong opposition from the bag manufacturing industry.

The government also rejected concern groups' calls to  direct the estimated annual HK$200 million in tax  revenue into environmental protection works.

The decision was announced yesterday after environmental protection officials had finished studying views collected in a two-month public consultation, which ended in July.

The Environmental Protection Department said it hoped the tax could be introduced at the end of  next year, pending the passage of a product responsibility bill, set to  come before the legislature  this year.

The first phase of the scheme is expected to apply to supermarkets and big chain stores, which will pass the  50-cent levy on to customers.

It is estimated that the   tax will  reduce the number of plastic bags handed out by those retailers by about half, to 1 billion.

Officials said the next phase would be decided based on a review to be conducted  a year after the  tax is implemented. Citing findings of a recent department poll,  officials said yesterday that the government's move had obtained wide public support, with two-thirds of the 1,102 respondents in favour of the tax.

But on the subject of how the money will be used, a government spokesman said: 'We would not like to give the public a wrong impression that they are contributing to environmental protection by paying 50 cents for a plastic bag. Otherwise, some may want to buy 10 bags if they think they are contributing HK$5 to environmental protection.'

The spokesman insisted the scheme was not to generate more government revenue, but to discourage people from using plastic bags unnecessarily. According to the department, more than 23 million plastic  bags are disposed of in landfills daily, equivalent to  three bags per person per day. But plastic-bag manufacturers yesterday warned the levy could kill their industry and lead to mass layoffs.

Luk Fong, a vice-president of the Hong Kong Plastic Bags Manufacturers' Association,  said that many Hong Kong businessmen had invested in plants making plastic bags on the mainland and that the levy could force  small and medium-sized plants to shut.

The association also said  taxes on plastic bags  had been proved a failure in many  countries.

Friends of the Earth environmental affairs officer Michelle Au Wing-tsz  said the government should  use all the tax collected on bags for environmental protection.

Richard Welford,  of the University of Hong Kong's Centre for Urban Planning and Environmental Management,  described the decision as a small first  step in a process that  needs to be broadened to include all disposable materials. 'On everything environmental, we are shockingly behind the times,' he said.

'Plastic bags are the easiest thing to deal with, but it is not tackling the fundamental use of plastics,' Professor Welford said. 'Overall, we need an integrated look at all disposable materials, from Styrofoam to paper cups and items that are given away for no reason.'



Government will press ahead with 50-cent plastic bag levy