Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
•Oldergenerationshaveturned
back to using the woven
baskets or plain cloth bags they
used before plastic alternatives
entered the Chinese market in
the 1980s. Younger people are
busy checking out online shops
for more fashionable 'eco-
friendly' bags. Those who do
pay for plastic bags are trying
to buy as few as possible,
foregoing the long-engrained
attitude of 'better more than
fewer' which was prevalent
before the ban [34]
Hong Kong
More than 23 million
plastic bags are used
and disposed of every
day [35]
•On7thJuly2009,theHongKong
Government and the Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) introduced
the Environmental levy on plastic
shopping bags (the scheme) in order
to reduce indiscriminate use of plastic
bags and arouse consumers' awareness
on the visible environmental problem in
Hong Kong. The government proposed
the scheme with a levy of 50 cents for a
plastic shopping bag in a variety of retail
outlets
•PublicInformationCampaigns:The
'Use Fewer Plastic Bags' campaign
was launched with an initial target of
reducing the use by 10%. Over 1,500
retail outlets took part in the drive and
devised action plans to achieve the target
•Afterone-yearof
implementation of the levy,
the per capita disposal igure
of plastic shopping bags was
reported to be over 1.8 per
person in 2009, which is lower
than that in 2005
•Thecampaignwasa
resounding success. In the
irst year, more than 30%
of the participating retailers
achieved or surpassed the 10%
reduction target, leading to an
overall reduction of more than
35 million plastic bags
India
•TheIndianplastic
industry is undergoing
growth at the rate of
about 17% with the
total consumption of
plastics being about four
million tons per year
•Currentestimatesputthe
consumption of plastics
for India at 4 kg/year/
person compared with
80-100 kg/year/person
for developed countries
•Abanwasplacedonuseofplasticbags
and containers made of recycled plastic
for storing, carrying and packaging of
foodstuffs
•Atechnologystandardwascreatedthat
demanded bags for storing, carrying
and packaging foodstuffs be in their
natural shade or white
•Aminimumthicknessstandardof20
μm was set for plastic bags made of
virgin or recycled material
•Theminimumthickness
standard of 20 μm for bags
alleviated the 'luttering'
problem but not littering.
The 20 μm bags remained
unattractive to the waste
pickers and continued to litter
•Successhasbeenachievedin
discouraging coloured bag use
in food packaging
•Re-useofplasticbagsby
consumers has not become a
habit yet
