650kg of rubbish cleared from Tai Po beach

An old plastic bath was one of 2,854 items of rubbish volunteers have cleared from a Tai Po beach.

A group of 106 people, including South China Morning Post employees, family members and friends, collected 654kg of rubbish, including truck tyres, tangled fish nets, rusty batteries and plastic bottles.

The event at Sha Lan Beach on Sunday was one of many to be held as part of the 12th annual Hong Kong Clean-up Challenge. The Post has sponsored the effort since 2009.

This year's challenge has been expanded beyond the coastline to countryside and city centre areas and will continue until November 4.

"It's rewarding when we see families, colleagues, and friends all working together side by side, and familiar faces coming back to help out every season," said Nissa Marion, who co-founded the campaign with Ecovision Asia chief executive Lisa Christensen.

"Hongkongers generate six million tonnes of waste each year, but only a small portion of it is recycled. One big problem is discarded cigarette butts, which are not biodegradable and contain toxins that are lethal to wildlife. They account for 28 per cent of the litter that washes up on the world's beaches."