Many small Hong Kong food, drink outlets still dishing out plastic utensils under grace period of ban

Most restaurants and takeaway shops in tourist areas still using plastic utensils at lunchtime on day ban came into force

Some operators complain businesses have been left by government to tackle any problems surrounding plastics ban on their own

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A ban on single-use plastics began in Hong Kong on Monday but there is a six-month grace period for companies. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 6:13pm, 22 Apr 2024

Many small food and drink outlets in popular Hong Kong tourist areas made use of a six-month grace period and continued to hand out plastic utensils and cutlery on Monday, with some finding paper alternatives impractical.

A ban on single-use plastics began in Hong Kong on Monday. But most restaurants and takeaway shops in Mong Kok, Prince Edward and Yau Ma Tei were still using plastic utensils at lunchtime except for a few drink shops and cha chaan teng – Hong Kong-style cafes – that provided paper straws, the Post observed.

Under the first phase of the ban, styrofoam products and throwaway plastic utensils such as cutlery and straws are banned for takeaway purchases although the grace period applies. Single-use plastic tableware is no longer available to patrons dining in.

At an outlet of a popular Taiwanese bubble tea chain on Bute Street in Mong Kok, paper straws are available upon request.

Tourist Zhang Xiaoxiao, from mainland China’s Fujian province, did not like the paper straws as they were softer than plastic ones, making it harder to poke through the plastic film of the drink, and they lost their shape quickly.