Enforcement Activities and Statistics under the Product Eco-responsibility Ordinance 2014 and First Quarter of 2015

Photo - Environmental Levy Scheme on Plastic Shopping Bags

The Environmental Levy Scheme on Plastic Shopping Bags (the Levy Scheme) became operational on 7 July 2009. As the first mandatory producer responsibility scheme introduced under the Product Eco-responsibility Ordinance (PERO), the -Levy Scheme provided a direct economic incentive to encourage the public to switch to reusable shopping bags.

Under the Levy Scheme, registered retailers were no longer allowed to give out free plastic shopping bags; and their customers ought to pay an environmental levy of 50 cents for each plastic shopping bag they asked for. Having registered under the Levy Scheme, registered retailers were required to submit a return on a quarterly basis setting out the number of plastic shopping bags distributed to customers from their retail outlets, and paid to the Government the total amount of levies collected for the quarter.

Prescribed Retailer

A person who carries on a retail business at:

(i) 5 or more qualified retail outlets in Hong Kong; or

(ii) at least one qualified retail outlet in Hong Kong that has a retail floor area of not less than 200 square metres.

A "qualified retail outlet" is one that offers all of the following categories of goods for sale: (a) any food or drink; (b) any medicine or first-aid item; and (c) any personal hygiene or beauty product.

The person who carries on a retail business that fulfills either item (i) or (ii) above is a "prescribed retailer", and shall register under the Levy Scheme.

Photo - BYOB

Since its implementation in July 2009, the Levy Scheme had yielded positive results with more and more people taking their own reusable shopping bags. According to the feedback from some green groups and the retail trade, the number of plastic shopping bags distributed to customers by registered retailers had been reduced significantly by 80% to 90%. With no doubt, the Levy Scheme could not have been implemented successfully without the support of the wider community and participation of the retail trade. The Levy Scheme ceased its operation on 31 March 2015.

Registrationunder the Levy Scheme

Under the Levy Scheme, a prescribed retailer should register his qualified retail outlet as registered retail outlet, otherwise no plastic shopping bag (PSB) should be provided directly or indirectly to a customer from his qualified retail outlet. As at 31 March 2015, a total of 47 retailers registered under the scheme, operating some 3,500 registered retail outlets that were subject to levy. These primarily included chain or large supermarkets, convenience stores, personal health and beauty stores, department stores, drug stores, etc (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 - Types of Registered Retail Outlets (as at 31 March 2015)

See Data

Return and Payment under the Levy Scheme

In accordance with the PERO, registered retailers were required to submit a quarterly return setting out the number of PSBs provided to customers from their retail outlets, and paid to the Government the amount of levy collected for such bags. Based on the quarterly returns received in 2014, and the first quarter of 2015, some 88 million PSBs were distributed by the registered retailers with the corresponding levy income of some $ 44 million. The number of PSBs provided to customers by various types of registered retail outlets in each quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015 is shown in Figure 2. During the whole implementation period of the Levy Scheme, the registered retailers paid a total of about $ 172 million of levy income to the Government with distribution of PSBs amounting to some 344 million.

Chart-Figure 2 Distribution of PSBs Provided to Customers in Each Quarter of 2014 and First Quarter of 2015

See Data

Notwithstanding the success of the Levy Scheme, PSB disposal arising from the unregulated retailers was found to have risen by 6% between mid-2009 and mid-2010. As a result, the Environmental Protection Department conducted a three-month consultation on whether and how to extend the Levy Scheme in May 2011. On the whole, the community was supportive of an extended coverage so as to further address the problem of excessive PSB use in Hong Kong.

The Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2013 for the full implementation of the PSB Charging (the PSB Charging) was introduced into the Legislative Council on 8 May 2013. It was approved by the Legislative Council on 19 March 2014 and the PSB Charging would come into effect on 1 April 2015. For details, please click here.