Greenpeace Hong Kong said on Saturday that plastic accounted for 97 per cent of the 3,263 pieces of rubbish it found in the Pui O River and Lam Tsuen River over a three-month period and 70 per cent of the items were packaging.
Food packaging was the largest category, making up more than a quarter of all plastic waste, followed by drinks containers and shipping packaging.
“While the government focuses on funding end-of-life recycling and building incinerators, there has been slow progress in regulating corporate production of single-use plastics,” said Leanne Tam Wing-lam, a Greenpeace campaigner.
Tam called on the government to set a specific target for plastic reduction or recycling under a producer responsibility scheme set to be passed by the Legislative Council next year.
The NGO’s recent results aligned with its previous findings over the prevalence of polythene and polypropylene – commonly used in single-use plastic packaging and takeaway utensils – in local streams and the faeces of wild mammals.
