In the bag: The Environmental Protection Department says a levy could greatly cut plastic bag use.

A 50-cent levy could cut plastic bag use in Hong Kong by a billion from the current 1.8 billion figure, the Environmental Protection Department says.

In a paper tabled to lawmakers today, the department said over eight billion plastic shopping bags are disposed of at landfills yearly - more than three bags a person daily, which is much higher than figures for developed economies overseas.

In an opinion survey on bag usage conducted last year, more than 85% of respondents said they will cut usage if a levy is imposed. The result of the No Plastic Bag Day campaign indicates that a voluntary charge of 50 cents could lead to a drop in plastic shopping bag usage by up to 54% at participating retail chains.

Phased approach

The department suggests adopting a phased approach in imposing the levy by first covering chain or large supermarkets, convenience stores and personal health and beauty stores, affecting up to 100 retailers with about 2,000 outlets.

The levy will apply to bags made wholly or predominantly of plastic, and have carrying handles, holes or strings. Bags with no handles, holes or strings; sealed bags applied before goods are offered for sale and bags sold as packaging materials or binliners, will not be subject to the scheme. Reusable shopping bags sold for $5 or more each will also be exempted.

The department expects the levy collected for the first few years will be less than $200 million a year. It will consult the public and discuss the implementation details with the trade in the next two months.