Plastic bag charge in Hong Kong to double to HK$1 by end of year to keep up pressure on pollution

Hong Kong plans to raise its plastic bag levy to HK$1 (13 US cents) by the end of this year under a finalised proposal submitted to the legislature for a vote later this month, an increase environmental groups say is long overdue.

According to a paper from the Environment and Ecology Bureau sent to the Legislative Council on Thursday, environment minister Tse Chin-wan had proposed raising the charge per bag from 50 cents to HK$1 by December 31 this year.

The amendment will be tabled at Legco’s meeting on October 19, the day Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivers his maiden policy address.

“On increasing the charging level, having considered inflation, it is apparent that the disincentive effect of the present charging level of at least 50 cents has been diminishing as time goes by,” the secretary for environment and ecology wrote in a draft of his speech given to lawmakers in advance.

The bureau will also lift levy exemptions for frozen and chilled foodstuffs and for food items wholly contained in non-airtight packaging, such as boxes of eggs or bags of potatoes. Plastic bags for these items are currently given to customers for free for hygiene reasons.

But levy exemptions will continue for the following: takeaway food in non-airtight packaging, such as lunchboxes; loose foodstuffs, such as apples without packaging; and items not wholly contained in non-airtight packaging, such as bread partially wrapped in paper. Eateries, however, can only give customers one plastic bag for free per transaction.