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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
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When Hongkonger Sean Barry checked out of his quarantine hotel last month, he took with him nearly 300 pieces of plastic collected from his 21-day stay.
“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.
The 24-year-old brand researcher headed straight to a recycling centre to drop off his haul before returning home to Peng Chau, after coming back from Britain, which is considered high risk by the Hong Kong authorities.
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Travellers who must stay at the city’s 36 designated quarantine hotels – almost always fully booked and part of Hong Kong’s strict coronavirus pandemic control measures – have almost all their meals served in disposable containers.
Some, like Barry, take the trouble of cleaning, collecting and bringing the containers to recycle after their quarantine ends.
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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.
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