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The territory-wide "No Plastic Bag Day" has now become a habit for most people thanks to the wide support from major supermarkets and retail chains, a spokesman for Hong Kong's Environmental Protection Department said on Tuesday.

The department has been supporting the Green Student Council, Friends of the Earth, The Conservancy Association and Green Power since June this year in co-organizing the "No Plastic Bag Day", which fall on the first Tuesday of each month. More than 30 major supermarkets and retail chains have joined the voluntary scheme to reduce the indiscriminate use of plastic shopping bags.

According to customer survey results conducted by the Green Student Council, the plastic bag distribution at the participating retailers was reduced by an average of more than 40 percent on "No Plastic Bag Day" in the past six months.

Over the past years, the government has been making great efforts to reduce the use of plastic bag. In 2003, 372,000 tons of plastic bags were disposed of at landfills. This fell to 368,158 tons in 2004 and 362,080 tons in 2005. Based on the current average disposal cost of 125 HK dollars a ton for waste disposal at landfills, the costs of disposing of plastic-bag waste were 46.5 million HK dollars (US$ 5.96 million) in 2003, 46 million HK dollars (US$ 5.9 million) in 2004 and 45.2 million HK dollars (US$ 5.79 million) in 2005.

According to a survey conducted at landfills at the end of last year, the number of plastic shopping bags disposed of at landfills was estimated to be about 23 million a day, over 30 percent of which came from supermarkets, convenience stores, bakeries and the catering business.

The Hong Kong government figures said that the participants in the voluntary scheme have handed out 80 million fewer of them since the pact's launch. Three major supermarket chains have achieved 24-29 percent cuts, far above their 15 percent target.

Since Dec. 5 is the last date of the "No Plastic Bag Day 2006",the Environmental Protection Department has been in close liaison with major supermarkets and retail chains and obtained their agreement to continue to organize "No Plastic Bag Day", at least once a month, on a self-supporting basis in 2007, the spokesman said.

The patrons include Wellcome, PARK n SHOP, China Resources Vanguard, Watsons, Mannings, 7-Eleven, Circle-K, DCH Food Marts, City' Super, A-1 Bakery and Three Sixty. Some retail chains even have plans to run the campaign on a weekly basis and Three Sixty in the Landmark is the first food retail concept store in town to run the "No Plastic Bag Day" every day.

"We hope that their lead will set an example to other retailers, particularly small and medium ones, which could create even more impact," the spokesman added.

He believed that with the full support and participation by the retail sectors and the general public, the new round of "No Plastic Bag Day" campaign in 2007 will further reduce this kind of waste at source and help protect the environment.

Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works Sarah Liao said that a study report on a plastic shopping bag levy -- including its feasibility, options, level of charge and scope, the environmental benefits of various options and their impact on the trades -- will be completed by the end of this year. The public and the trades will be extensively consulted on the proposal.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2006)