Govt to impose a levy in July on every bag given away at supermarkets and major retailers.
Entrepreneur Brian Pemberton displays some of his recycled rice bags in Hong Kong. --PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
HONG KONG - MR BRIAN Pemberton is trying to help Hong Kong beat its looming waste crisis - one rice sack at a time.
Plastic bags not the only problem
In recent years, countries from Ireland to Australia have brought in restrictions on plastic bags, while New Delhi has threatened jail sentences for customers and shopkeepers who ignore a ban.
Last June, China moved to slash its annual consumption of an estimated one trillion bags, banning ultra-thin versions and introducing a charge for regular bags.
The entrepreneur takes used sacks from China and refashions the hardy material into reusable and unique grocery bags, then sells them to eco-friendly shoppers to use instead of free plastic bags.
Mr Pemberton is a green entrepreneur, one of a growing number trying to take advantage of a new awareness that plastic bags are an environmental hazard and the world needs to cut waste as landfill space is rapidly gobbled up.
'I was looking at the green approach to business - it makes sense to start in something that is not going to go away,' said Mr Pemberton, whose firm is called reSackel.
'The idea is to make a profit while doing something good. I came across the reusable shopping bags situation, and found that the statistics (on the use of plastic bags) are terrifying.'
'There is a very serious problem of waste in Hong Kong,' said Mr Alfred Lee, assistant director of the government's waste management policy division.
He said the government is moving to introduce a HK50-cent levy in July on every bag given away at supermarkets and major retailers.
In Hong Kong - where double-bagging at supermarket counters is almost automatic - the seven million residents use a staggering eight billion bags a year - around three bags per person per day, according to government figures.
This is 50 per cent more than in Taiwan and close to triple that of Europe, local environmental activists say.
The bags are part of Hong Kong's landfill crisis as the city's three sites are expected to run out of space in the next eight years. -- AFP
