This “Cut Plastic Use” platform aims to disseminate information related to the regulation of disposable plastic tableware and other plastic products to the public, businesses and relevant stakeholders, such as the details and timetable of the regulation. Possible alternatives and ways to replace the use of regulated single-use plastic products are also provided on this platform.    

Plastics are widely used in our daily lives, but their decomposition may take over a hundred years, during which they will be fragmented into plastic particles. If waste plastics accidentally enter into the sea, not only will they affect the marine ecosystem, plastic particle fragments or microplastics will also enter into the food chain if absorbed by marine organisms, thereby threatening human and animal health.

With the growing concerns over the issue of disposable plastics across the world, the market for reusable tableware or disposable tableware made of non-plastic materials (such as paper, softwood, plant fibre, etc.) has been developing rapidly in recent years, driving down the prices of such greener alternatives to levels comparable to those of conventional disposable plastic tableware. Coupled with the increasing “plastic-free” awareness of the public, regulation of disposable plastic tableware and other plastic products should be taken forward without further delay.

To speed up the pace of reducing plastics, the regulation of disposable plastic tableware and other plastic products was passed at the LegCo on 18 October 2023. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) proposed to implement the first phase regulation on 22 April 2024, Earth Day, and the second phase regulation depending on the situation.