ZIM CITY

Eat without waste

Paul Zimmerman on banning styrofoam and plastics

Dig below the vegetation along the shores of Hong Kong and the first meter consists of polystyrene foam pellets instead of sand, mud and rocks. Lunch boxes, noodle bowls and the larger boxes used in the fish and vegetable trade end up in our waters and break down into squeaky pellets. Unwittingly (or lazily) discarded on the land, they are picked up by wind and rain. We see them float by. They are a main component of trash collected during beach clean-ups.

After years of knocking on doors, Hong Kong is slowly taking a first step in getting rid of some of it, releasing a survey open for all residents to share their concerns about the regulation of disposable plastic tableware.

Extruded or expanded polystyrene (EPS), better known as styrofoam, is cheap, lightweight and leak proof, so it’s easy to understand why it’s so popular. It will take a lot of international collaboration on rules and enforcement to remove and replace it in the fish trade. But there are no excuses for retaining the use of styrofoam as part of our food catering habits. There are ample alternatives on the market.

Besides styrofoam, the proposed scheme seeks to get rid of plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, cups, bowls and plates from all take-out catering and from all indining establishments. It is expected that this will reduce around 40 tonnes of plastic contaminated with left-overs from going to waste every day.

The proposed ban will face opposition from thousands of large and small food businesses as well as many consumers who rely on take-out food. But with alternative options including reusable tableware and boxes made with natural fibres, there shouldn’t be so much worry.

On an informal basis, many restaurants have already started to accept containers brought by customers. Everyone in my office brings their own containers. Hope you will do so too.

If you want to have your say in the survey, visit the dedicated website: rdpt. hk. My recommendation is to tick “agree” to every question and reply to question ten with a resounding: “Why wait till 2025? Do it tomorrow.”

More importantly, you don’t have to wait for the scheme. Start today by refusing plastic tableware and bring your own instead.

Paul Zimmerman is CEO of Designing Hong Kong and Vice-Chairman of the Southern District Council. He has been acting as Chairman of the Single-Use Beverage Packaging Working Group and their ‘Drink Without Waste’ initiative since 2017.