WWF poll finds 80 per cent of Hongkongers want regulations on single-use plastic tableware, 60 per cent want it banned
- Environmental group calls on government to issue timeline for eradicating single-use plastic utensils
- Survey finds 86 per cent want plastic tableware replaced with reusable or biodegradable materials
Hongkongers are overwhelmingly in favour of cracking down on the use of single-use plastics in the food and drink industry, a survey by an environmental group revealed on Wednesday.
In a poll of more than 3,200 city residents, the conservation body WWF Hong Kong found that 78 per cent of respondents supported the regulation of the single-use plastic utensils, with nearly 60 per cent calling for a ban on all disposable tableware.
The survey found that 86 per cent of participants favoured replacing plastic tableware with reusable or biodegradable materials, with nearly 50 per cent strongly supporting that idea. Only 14 per cent of the Hongkongers interviewed opposed a total ban on the sales of disposable tableware.
Patrick Yeung Chung-wing, the ocean conservation manager for WWF Hong Kong, admitted it would be difficult to ban all disposable tableware in a short time. He said a ban of polystyrene, a widely used plastic polymer, should be the priority because of its large role in polluting the environment, especially oceans.
“We hope the government can ban all polystyrene tableware by 2022,” Yeung said. He pointed out that there were plenty of alternatives to polystyrene and banning it would have a “smaller impact to customers and the industry”.