HONG KONG – “Every time you feel a little useless, remember the paper soup spoon; for no matter how useless you are, it will be even more useless than you,” croons a young man as he strums his guitar with a paper spoon in a viral video in Hong Kong.
That Instagram reel, which shows the misshapen spoon at the end, has been viewed more than 1.2 million times, garnering over 52,000 likes and 22,000 shares since it was posted by local singer-songwriter Subyub Lee on April 21. Salad Bowl
The tongue-in-cheek song in Cantonese and Mandarin reflects sentiments on the ground as the city takes steps to ban single-use plastics.
While laudable in its bid to save the environment, the move has confused and inconvenienced residents and tourists almost one month into the rollout of the first phase of the ban.
The new rules ban the sale or provision of a range of disposable plastic products including hotel toiletries, dining tableware, straws, umbrella bags and more.
They took effect on April 22, with the first six months considered an “adaptation period” during which businesses are not penalised so that they can use up their existing stocks. After the grace period, non-compliant businesses face fines of up to HK$100,000 (S$17,250).
Currently, plastic food and drink containers can still be sold and used for takeaway, but not for dining in. A second, more stringent phase that bans more plastic items, including table cloths, dental floss and ear plugs, is set to be enforced in 2025.
Since the ban was announced, many eateries across Hong Kong have replaced their disposable plastic tableware with more eco-friendly options made of paper or bamboo.
Mr Lee’s video came after consumers complained that the paper spoons became soggy, warped, and could no longer be used mere minutes after being dipped into hot soup.
A post shared by Subyub Lee 李拾壹 (@subyub)
Residents took to forums online to mock environment minister Tse Chin-wan, after he said he found disposable wooden cutlery sturdier than plastic ones. Users urged him to try drinking milkshake through a paper straw or enjoy a steak with a wooden fork and knife.
In supermarkets, confusion reigned when Don Don Donki started packaging sushi in opaque cardboard boxes instead of its usual transparent plastic ones for customers opting to eat at its dining area. Some consumers were unhappy that they could no longer select their sushi based on how it looks.
The environment ministry quickly clarified that supermarkets could still package their sushi in plastic for dine-in customers, as the products were considered “takeaway” items. But that created more confusion, with lawmakers criticising the ministry for its conflicting statements and unsatisfactory explanations.
According to media reports, mainland Chinese tourists kicked up a fuss on social media platform Xiaohongshu after five-star hotel Grand Hyatt started charging guests for plastic toiletries like tubes of toothpaste, shower caps and razors, citing the government’s new policy.
A receptionist at the five-star Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel said that while it was still providing some free plastic amenities within the six-month grace period, the hotel was already offering glass flasks and water dispensers in place of plastic bottles of water, and bamboo-stemmed pens instead of plastic-covered ones, among other eco-friendly measures.
Things were different at some lower-end hotels.
An unhappy Singaporean guest at a three-star Ibis Hotel in Sheung Wan said she was not informed of the plastic ban prior to her arrival in Hong Kong. She was not given a toothbrush, cotton buds, shower cap or bottled water in her room.
“They didn’t inform me (of the new policy) during check-in at the reception either,” said the woman, who wanted to be known only as Ms Tan. “They just left a note in the room for me to figure it out myself.”
The hotel did not respond to a request for comment. The environment ministry said hotels can decide for themselves whether to offer or charge for alternatives, as long as they do not provide free plastic items after the grace period.
Dr Jeffrey Hung, CEO of sustainability non-governmental organisation Friends of the Earth (HK), said hotels have many options to offer eco-friendly amenities without appearing “stingy”, such as providing refillable glass or ceramic containers.
“While Hong Kong has moved very fast from consultation to legislation in phasing out single-use plastics, the city is already behind on the trend,” Dr Hung told The Straits Times.
He noted that Shanghai’s hotels have stopped offering disposable amenities since 2019, and non-degradable single-use plastic tableware has been banned for dine-in in other Chinese cities since 2020.
“We need to move away from plastics faster, as just 9 per cent of all plastic waste generated globally has been recycled.”
So far, more than 80 per cent of Hong Kong’s hotels and retailers inspected by the government have complied with the new policy.
About 60 per cent of restaurants citywide had done so, said Mr Simon Wong, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, describing the development as “a good sign”.
“Many restaurants have also started charging customers one or two HK dollars for takeaway disposable tableware,” Mr Wong told ST, adding that the higher cost of the eco-friendly alternatives to plastic was a concern especially for smaller food and beverage firms.
“But their costs should come down over time as the public gets used to the changes and more people get into the habit of bringing their own (containers) when buying takeaways.”
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Plastic Ladle MCI (P) 066/10/2023. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2024 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.