More than 17 million pieces of plastic waste flushed into sea from Hong Kong’s Shing Mun River each year: Greenpeace

Published: 
South China Morning Post
Listen to this article

On-site surveys and 24-hour video recordings were conducted for eight days to gather these findings on water pollution

South China Morning Post |
Published: 
Comment

Latest Articles

UN World Food Program director rings the alarm about food shortage in Haiti

Hong Kong Ocean Park to be the new home for Passion, 2-metre-long crocodile

EU not ready to fight climate change dangers, warns environment agency

Local commute goes green: Hong Kong launches first hydrogen-powered bus

Greenpeace campaigner Chan Hall-sion displays some of the items found in Hong Kong's waterways.

More than 17 million pieces of waste plastic are flushed into the sea via Hong Kong’s Shing Mun River every year, environmental group Greenpeace Asia has found.

The top five items were plastic tableware such as straws and cutlery, plastic bags, plastic bottles, food packaging and polystyrene fragments.

Greenpeace campaigner Chan Hall-sion said the group’s study provided further evidence that a major pathway for marine plastics ending up in the ocean was through storm drains and waterways in urban areas.

Are paper straws really better for the environment than plastic ones?

“Trash from the city is generally blown by wind and flushed by rain into the storm water drains, after which it enters into the sea via the waterways, where it becomes marine plastic trash,” she said.

The group conducted on-site surveys and 24-hour video recording for eight days in August.

According to calculations and projections gathered from analysis of time lapse camera footage at the Tai Wai Nullah, the amount of daily plastic waste flowing into Tolo Harbour from the Shing Mun River was estimated to exceed 48,000 pieces on a dry day – and could easily double during a rainstorm.

Wast from a cleanup operation at Yung Shue Wan beachfront on Lamma Island.
Photo: Nora Tam/SCMP

The group also ran less detailed surveys at eight other major waterways, including the Tuen Mun River, Shek Sheung River, Sheung Yue River, Yuen Long Nullah, Shan Pui River and the Kam Tin River and observed similar situations.

Many of those rivers in the western New Territories flow into the ecologically sensitive Deep Bay.

HK eco-festival GreenFest will change the way you think about food and the environment

Chan said urgent measures were needed to curb plastic waste at the source, and urged large local fast-food chains to cut down on the amount of single-use tableware they doled out.

“A levy scheme for plastic bags has already been in place for 10 years, and the government is about to launch a producer responsibility scheme for plastic bottles. But plastic tableware is being ignored, and there are no clear policies on it yet,” Chan said.

In her policy address last week, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the government would study the feasibility of controlling or banning disposable plastic tableware, with the aim of completing it around 2020.

Sign up for the YP Teachers Newsletter
Get updates for teachers sent directly to your inbox
By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
Comment