Most of Hong Kong and Taiwan’s dumped plastic bottles come from mainland China – but local drinks makers also urged to reduce waste
Some 66 per cent of plastic bottles collected along coasts were labelled in simplified Chinese characters, according to survey by local environmental group The Green Earth and other NGOs
Green groups in Hong Kong and Taiwan have called on mainland China and drinks makers to do more to reduce plastic waste after a survey found two-thirds of bottles collected during beach clean-ups most probably came from across the border.
Some 66 per cent of plastic bottles collected along the coasts of Hong Kong and Taiwan were labelled in simplified Chinese characters, according to a preliminary survey by local environmental group The Green Earth in collaboration with eight NGOs in Hong Kong and three in Taiwan.
The mainland uses simplified script, whereas Hong Kong and Taiwan use traditional Chinese characters.
The group led a “brand research” campaign on PET plastic drink containers collected during clean-ups. In 16 coastal clean-ups in Hong Kong and Taiwan, 5,200 bottles were collected in total. According to The Green Earth, more than 4,400 bottles had recognisable brands. Of those, about 66 per cent of the brands were in simplified Chinese, and 28 per cent in traditional Chinese.
Hahn Chu Hon-keung, director of environmental advocacy at The Green Earth, said he believed the vast majority of the simplified Chinese bottles were from the mainland.
