What happens to the plastic bag levy?
I have a few issues relating to the shopping bag levy.
There are various posters at checkouts telling me to bring my own bag or else pay 50 cents. What we have not been told in this entire campaign is where my 50 cents goes.
I hope it is being directed into community projects that improve Hong Kong's environment, but due to an extremely bad publicity campaign, the government has failed to inform consumers where their hard-earned money ends up. This vital information should have been part of every public communication surrounding the campaign.
I use the term hard-earned money quite seriously. It might only be 50 cents in some people's minds, but if you buy HK$100 worth of groceries which could easily require three bags, that is 1.5 per cent more on your bill. This is a typical example of consumer prices being indirectly impacted by such a levy. And, in the midst of a financial crisis, I don't know too many people who have had a 1.5 per cent pay rise this year to cover such consumer price increases.
Can someone from the Environmental Protection Department please respond and tell the people of Hong Kong where the 50 cents is going? Also, change all future print runs of your campaign material to include this information.
Secondly, every receipt that is printed now uses an extra four centimetres by 8.5 centimetres of space to advise customers of the levy scheme. This has an adverse impact on the environment by adding more waste to already overflowing landfills, exactly the opposite of what the levy is supposed to achieve.
