Letters | Hongkong Post should rethink service for marketers to send unsolicited mass mail

Readers discuss the environmental impact of unaddressed circular mail from the Post Office and how to build on efforts to limit plastic pollution

Hong Kong environmental issues

Letters

Published: 2:30pm, 30 Mar 2022

Why you can trust SCMP

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification.

Hongkong Post offers unaddressed circular mail services to help local businesses market their goods and services to 2.8 million households in the city. The total number of items mailed through the services has steadily declined in the last few years, reaching 110 million in 2020-21. We believe the post office should assess the effectiveness of this marketing programme and review its environmental impact through carbon auditing.

In 2011, the post office commissioned a study on the impact of its circular services and found that 57 per cent of marketers surveyed found the services useful in promoting their businesses. In response to our inquiry, it says there is no plan for a follow-up study.

Since more targeted smart advertising solutions are available nowadays through social media, the post office should investigate how much value such mail services create for its clients. Even though businesses may find the services affordable, the government should consider whether the programme is justifiable, taking into account the environmental costs.

According to the post office, the carbon emissions for delivering mail items is about 19g per item. Thus, the total carbon footprint of the circular mail services in 2020-21 would amount to about 2,090 tonnes. A more comprehensive carbon auditing to include the carbon emission of manufacturing the paper and printing the mailed items would reveal an even greater environmental impact of the marketing programme.

Following the guidelines of the Environment Bureau, the post office assessed the carbon footprint of its office buildings and found the total amount of carbon emissionS was about 2,900 tonnes in 2020. We urge the post office to work with the Environment Bureau and comprehensively measure the carbon intensity of its unaddressed circular mail services so a true cost-benefit analysis is applied when assessing whether the service should continue.

Charlie Cheung, Zixi Luo, Kowloon Tong

Push bottlers to build on efforts to cut plastic waste

The Coca-Cola Company has announced a goal to have at least 25 per cent of its beverages sold globally using reusable packaging by 2030. This commitment is appreciated and timely given the recent signing of a resolution to create a legally binding global treaty on plastic pollution at the United Nations Environmental Assembly in Nairobi.

As the franchisee of the Coca-Cola Company for East Asia, and as a joint venture partner in a new plastic bottle recycling facility in Hong Kong, Swire Coca-Cola should share the company’s plans in Hong Kong for increasing its reusable packaging. It should also offer alternative distribution methods, such as beverage fountains, which will help eliminate packaging altogether.

Moreover, the implementation of a reusable container rental programme to complement a “bring your own” system is needed to ensure that disposable cup waste does not increase with the addition of beverage fountains.

Other local beverage manufacturers such as Vitasoy, A S Watson Group and Hung Fook Tong should also follow suit and share their plans to reduce packaging waste and recycling targets. They should do this now – ahead of the implementation of waste-charging legislation – to signal they are serious about helping their customers lower the waste footprint and associated costs that come from enjoying these products.

I encourage the government to leverage this positive industry momentum and add reuse and recycling targets to its proposed producer responsibility scheme for plastic beverage containers.

Dana Winograd, director, Plastic Free Seas