The environmental effect about implementation of plastic bag tax is not clear in Hong Kong

The survey found a plastic bag tax levy as originally foreseen, as the range of plastic bags are disabled (usually used in supermarkets and retail stores and cutting plastic bag T-bag) significantly reduced the consumption there. However, as an alternative type of thick non-woven bags and reusable plastic bags usage has soared, offsetting the reduction banned plastic bags, so from July 2009 tax on plastic bags since the beginning of all types The overall amount of plastic bags, up 27%.Another survey, before the introduction of plastic bag tax, 700 million Hong Kong people use every day all kinds of plastic bags for the 78 tons -80 tons, and now the daily dosage of about 100 tons. Chamber of Commerce, said manufacturing plastic bags, plastic garbage bags used to produce the amount of up to 63% for the amount of nonwoven bags is jumped by 96%, while for the traditional cutting plastic bags and T- the weight of the plastic material were reduced by 68% and 20%. The Chamber of Commerce that lead to increased rather than decreased the amount of plastic bags is another main reason is the increased use of non-woven polypropylene bags, these bags can be reused and increasingly popular, their need for the amount of plastic shopping bags is a traditional 30 times -50 times. These non-woven plastic bags need to be reused at least 30 times with the traditional plastic shopping bag consumption flat. Hong Kong government is now on whether to expand the scope of a plastic bag tax discussion, including in more retail stores, clothing stores or bookstores to implement taxes, rpet bag and allows retailers to retain their own plastic bag fee income, rather than as in the past on to the Government. Plastic bag tax in 2009, the first phase of implementation, about 3,000 large-scale retail stores, supermarkets, convenience stores and personal health care products and beauty products stores began charging for each plastic bag at HK $ 0.5.Hong Kong environmental group believes that this measure yielded results, should be further extended to the city's other 60,000 retail outlets. The main local environmental group Friends of the Earth Hong Kong spokeswoman MichelleAu said, according to government statistics, the implementation of plastic bag use tax on merchants in plummeted by 77%. However, according to local Hong Kong newspapers reported that, because there are many shops not included in the scope of taxation, landfill disposal of plastic bags in Hong Kong last year, the number declined by only 5.7%. Manufacturing of plastic bags as a response to Chamber of Commerce survey, Au said that although the total consumption of plastics has increased, but she doubted whether caused by the plastic bag tax, increase in population or tourism development are the general economic may lead to increased use of plastic bags. She also said that while increased consumption of non-woven bags, woven bags, non woven bag china but use only 17 million, in Hong Kong in 2010 consumed 4.3 billion plastic bags in only a small part of it. Friends of the Earth believes that Hong Kong needs to take stronger measures to reduce waste generation, in 2005 -2009, the amount of waste the city of Hong Kong increased by 7.3%, while the Government has pledged to strive at a 1% annual reduction in the amount of waste. Friends of the Earth said, "increasingly affluent lifestyles and bring new consumer behavior" makes waste in Hong Kong increased, the Government must introduce a wider range of policies to be addressed, such as garbage fees and producer responsibility legislation. The group has been in public comments specifically plastic bag tax known as the "address the root cause of the problem of excessive waste - the ideal strategy for the abuse of plastic bags."A spokesman said the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department, Government believes that the success of the plastic bag tax, reusable bag because it allows people to develop a shopping bag to the supermarket's own habits, succeeded in changing consumer behavior. EPA said that compared to the production data given in the plastics industry, waste disposal aspects of the statistical information to better illustrate the effectiveness of plastic bag tax, known as "regulated entities (ie, supermarkets, convenience stores and personal health care products and beauty products shop ) disposed in the plastic shopping bag reduction on the amount exceeds the amount of the increase in disposal of garbage bags. "In addition, the EPA also said the government has stepped up public outreach efforts, does not encourage excessive distribution of non-woven bags, plastic bags, such as will also become the object of taxation.