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Following is a question by the Hon Raymond Ho and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (July 12) :
Question:
It has been reported that several major supermarket chains in Hong Kong have respectively signed a "voluntary agreement on plastic bag reduction" with the Government and introduced measures to reduce the distribution of plastic bags. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows if the number of plastic bags distributed by the major supermarket chains participating in the voluntary scheme has reduced markedly since the implementation of the voluntary agreements (please provide supporting figures); and
(b) of the total number of plastic bags expected to be reduced under the voluntary scheme in the coming year, and whether the voluntary scheme can achieve its reduction target or an even higher level of reduction?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) To reduce the indiscriminate use of plastic bags at source, six major supermarket chains and retail outlet chains (Wellcome, PARKnSHOP, China Resources Vanguard, Watson's, Mannings and Pricerite) have respectively entered into a "Voluntary Agreement on Plastic Bag Reduction" ("the Voluntary Agreement") with the Government. They have pledged to reduce more than 100 million plastic bags in total in one year (reduction rate of 15% to 20%) and to implement a series of measures to reduce the distribution of plastic bags. These measures include encouraging consumers to use environment-friendly shopping bags, offering incentives or rebates for consumers who use such bags, asking each and every consumer if they need plastic bags, and providing training to frontline staff to solicit their support for the plastic bag reduction initiatives.
The Voluntary Agreement requires retailers to submit reports on plastic bag reduction result to the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) on a regular basis. The first report should reach the EPD within this month.
The Wellcome supermarket chain, the first to sign the Voluntary Agreement, has earlier announced its preliminary result on plastic bag reduction. The chain distributed 22% less plastic bags (or about 4.73 million plastic bags) in April this year than the same period last year. We find the result most encouraging.
(b) As stated above, the supermarket chains and retail outlet chains have pledged to reduce more than 100 million plastic bags in total in one year. We are promoting the Voluntary Agreement to other retailers and are reaching out to them proactively. We hope more retailers will join in.
In addition, the Government strongly supports plastic bag reduction activities organised by green groups, including the "No Plastic Bag Day" (NPBD) on the first Tuesday of each month, which allows the public to gradually build up the habit of bringing their own shopping bags. According to the surveys conducted at major supermarkets in various districts, the use of plastic bags dropped by 37% and 46% respectively on the NPBD in June and July. The Government has also recently produced an announcement of public interest on "Use Less Plastic Shopping Bags" for broadcasting on television, radio and publicity screens on major public transport. With the full support and participation of the public, we are confident that we can achieve or even exceed the reduction targets as set out in the Voluntary Agreement.
Ends/Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:06
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