Health & Environment

Online shopping over the past year is estimated to have produced around 800 million pieces of packaging waste in Hong Kong, according to a local environmental protection group, Green Sense. On average, 2.32 pieces and 2.71 kinds of wrappers were used for each item, with some using up to nine kinds of packaging materials, such as cartons, sticky tapes, bubble wrap, and craft paper, Green Sense has found. Ma Ka-po, senior project officer of Green Sense, said at a news conference today that too many kinds of packing materials make it hard for consumers to figure out which ones can be recycled.   Excessive use of sticky tapes, she pointed out, is a common problem. “The tapes are usually used to secure the flaps of cartons, but we found some cartons with sticky tapes all over them, even covering unnecessary parts,” Ms. Ma said.   Of 209 people Green Sense interviewed this year, only 35% thought that Hong Kong has a serious or very serious problem of excess packaging. Last year, 51% said it was a problem. The research also found that only about 46% of the interviewees would recycle packaging materials such as paper and cartons, after receiving the package, but 43% of them would simply throw them away. He Songlan, a university student, shops online three or four times a week, but she doesn’t see packaging waste as a problem. “When I buy clothes online, there may be one or two plastic bags and bubble wraps in the package, and when I buy snacks, there may be one carton and some plastic bags,” she said. She admitted though that the delivery companies may add a lot of packaging. “But it is acceptable for me,” she added. Kor Mi-jing, a student who shops online occasionally, tends to keep the …

The Hong Kong government planned to ban all types of disposable plastic tableware at restaurants from 2025, according to an announcement made on Friday. The city’s Environment Protection Department, which is seeking public opinion on the proposal during the next two months, said parts of plastic cutlery often packaged in take-away services would also be banned.  A consultation paper, released by the government on Friday, proposed to ban the local sale of disposable expanded polystyrene (EPS) utensils and discontinue their use at restaurants within four years. Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR Government, wrote in the consultation paper that, “ practising ‘plastic-free’ at the source is the most fundamental way to achieve ‘waste free seas’.”  “Countless waste plastics enter the natural environment, including the ocean, each year,” he wrote in the document. “They will eventually be fragmented into microplastics and enter the human food chain.”  The department also suggested regulating the use of non-EPS plastic tableware for dine-in and take-away services in phases.  The first stage was to ban all types of disposable tableware offered to dine-in customers at restaurants, with disposable cutlery, such as straws, knives and forks, banned in take-away food and beverage services. Take-away services would be regulated the same as dine-in services in the second stage, according to the statement. Chung Wai-yi, the owner of a ramen restaurant, said they were using recyclable plastic chopsticks and plastic food containers for take-away services.   She supported the ban on disposable plastic tableware.  “I always support the environmentally friendly promotion in Hong Kong, but this time, I hope the government can make it a reality rather than just talking,” she said.  She expected the government to make laws and regulations on plastic use in the catering industry to ensure fair competition, and also find good substitutes …

        Construction of Hong Kong’s first Chinese Medicine Hospital is expected to start in Tseung Kwan O in a couple of days. Speaking at a launch ceremony today, Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan Siu-chee described it as a milestone in the development of traditional Chinese medicine in the city.    Dr. Cheung Wai-lun, project director of the Chinese Medicine Hospital, said the facilities will include around 400 beds, 70 diagnostic rooms and 45 treatment rooms. The new hospital is expected to serve about 310,000 outpatients every year.    “About 200 Chinese medicine practitioners will participate in training and research at the Chinese Medicine Hospital,” Dr. Cheung said. The hospital will also recruit both full-time and part-time traditional Chinese medicine workers.   The hospital will be run by Hong Kong Baptist University under a private-public partnership arrangement and about 65% of the services will be government-funded.   At the moment, traditional Chinese medicine students in Hong Kong have to go to the mainland for their internships. But once the new hospital comes into operation, a third of the students from three local universities can do their internships in Hong Kong initially.   The hospital will come into service in phases from 2025 and eventually up to half of the local students can be trained there.   Professor Alexander Wai Ping-kong, president of Hong Kong Baptist University said the Chinese Medicine Hospital will hire Chineses medicine practitioners from Hong Kong, the mainland and other countries.   Yao Yuzhen, a mainland student studying Chinese medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University, hoped the new hospital will make it more convenient to conduct scientific research.   “Hong Kong does not have any inpatient department in traditional Chinese medicine right now,   so there can only be limited use of some …