Plastic trash piling up: Hong Kong green groups want quarantine hotels to stop using throwaway food containers, cutlery
- Hotels have safety guidelines, but are not compelled to collect disposable items for recycling
- Some quarantined guests amass hundreds of plastic boxes, cutlery to recycle after checking out
“I did get some weird looks as I was leaving, but I said it was for recycling,” he said, recalling the reaction of the hotel staff.
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Some, like Barry, take the trouble of cleaning, collecting and bringing the containers to recycle after their quarantine ends.
But Hong Kong’s green groups have questioned whether the responsibility should fall on individuals, and urged the government to require hotels to provide reusable cutlery instead.
Barry had set up a sorting system in his hotel room, collecting not just plastic but also paper, glass and metal from his meals. At the end of his stay, he had 288 plastic items, including 42 meal trays, 56 soup bowls, 122 lids and more than 50 plastic bags.
“It was a hassle to take everything, and the recycling centre is definitely not the place most people would go to when they check out of quarantine,” Barry noted, but wanted to help reduce his impact on the planet.
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The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a sharp rise in the use of single-use plastics, with an estimated 1.6 million tonnes of plastic waste generated daily worldwide. In Hong Kong, environmental groups expect waste numbers to surge, particularly as residents have been buying more takeaway meals as there have been pandemic curbs on dining in at restaurants.
The Food and Health Bureau said use of disposable containers in quarantine hotels took into account “various considerations, including infection control requirements” and the hotels’ operations.
While guests are asked to leave their trash outside their rooms for collection, the hotels are not required to recycle the disposable food boxes or utensils from those who are quarantined.
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A government health document for the hotels advises that staff minimise contact with quarantined guests and use trolleys to deliver food and other items to their rooms, but makes no mention of the type of cutlery or containers to be used.
The Environmental Protection Department said it supported virus prevention efforts and, subject to infection control measures in quarantine, hoped every sector in the community would continue to reduce waste at the source, avoid the use of plastic containers, and practise recycling.
The department, which earlier this month completed a public consultation on eventually banning disposable plastic tableware, said it was working on a way to regulate its sale and use.
Some hotels, including Ovolo and Dorsett ones, as well as the Four Points by Sheraton, where Barry stayed, provide guests with reusable cutlery, but others stick to disposables.
Ovolo’s operations manager Sonesh Mool told the Post it used biodegradable bamboo packaging to serve guests during their stay, but their last meal before checking out was served on proper plates as “a last hurrah”.
A spokesman for Dorsett Hotels said each guest was provided a free set of reusable cutlery, which helped save 63 sets of single-use cutlery per stay. Plates and bowls were also provided.
None of the other hotels contacted by the Post responded.
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Angus Ho Hon-wai, executive director of Greeners Action, hoped the government would review whether it was risky to serve quarantined guests with reusable cutlery and crockery or have the hotels collect items for recycling from guests.
“It’s not like this is medical waste, and the hotels have their own catering services, they could just treat it as room service,” Ho said. He encouraged those in quarantine to at least clean and collect any plastic for recycling.
“Of course if there’s an infection risk, we should not put the environment above that,” he added.
Greenpeace campaigner Leanne Tam Wing-lam said disposable cutlery and containers were not necessarily more hygienic.
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“While we appreciate guests recycling, this responsibility shouldn’t be on them. The key is reduction at the source,” she said, adding that hotels should at least provide reusable pieces of cutlery, and guests could reject disposable ones.
Infectious diseases expert Dr Leung Chi-chiu took a more cautious view of the matter.
“We should reduce the likelihood of hotel staff coming into contact with quarantined people and objects from their rooms to prevent any chance of the coronavirus from slipping into the community,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong residents who care about the environment are doing what they can to mitigate the use of plastic at quarantine hotels.
Hong Kong-born Bal Taylor, 55, a stay-at-home mother of two whose husband works in real estate, has been picking up clear plastic food containers from people leaving quarantine hotels since February.
She washes them thoroughly before using them to pack food for the city’s homeless.
“At one point my study was so full of containers, my husband and I were looking at each other over the pile,” said Taylor, who volunteers for a local charity called May’s Angels which helps the homeless.
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She started collecting the plastic containers after her husband and some friends went through quarantine and noticed the amount of waste generated.
She has noticed less plastic recently, suggesting that more hotels have switched to using eco-friendly food containers and utensils.
She gets three or four calls a day from guests leaving quarantine hoping to pass on disposable cutlery, toiletries, cleaning supplies and toilet paper.
“I couldn’t believe the amount of stuff that was going to be chucked away, so we decided to try to make the best of it,” Taylor said.
