Why is plastic waste a problem?

Every day, Hong Kong disposes 11,128 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) to landfill, of which 21% is plastic waste. 10% of this plastic waste - meaning 227 tonnes per day - is made up of plastic tableware, meaning single-use takeaway containers, cups, lids, straws, stirrers, etc.

Disposing of such a large amount of plastic waste to Hong Kong landfills every day is a problem because:

1. Plastic is manufactured using unsustainable and non-renewable materials, such as oil, gas, and coal.
2. Plastic takes hundreds of years to degrade in landfills – plastic does not just disappear out of sight. As plastic breaks down, it releases toxic chemicals into our ecosystems, harming our environment and living organisms, including us.
3. Plastic is not biodegradable – because plastic is a synthetic material, it cannot be broken down in a way that can be absorbed by other living organisms. It only breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces like microplastics.
4. It is not an easy task to recycle plastic due to various difficulties in sorting out individual components – of all the plastic waste sent to landfill, only around 5% was recovered for recycling in 2022.

Reference: Monitoring of Solid Waste in Hong Kong – Waste Statistics for 2022, Environmental Protection Department.