The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, officiated July 5 at the pre-commencement ceremony of the Environmental Levy Scheme on Plastic Shopping Bags organised by the Environmental Protection Department at East Point City, Tseung Kwan O.
Under the scheme, registered retailers are required to charge customers a 50-cent environmental levy for providing a plastic shopping bag with handle. Prescribed retailers include major and chain supermarkets, convenience stores, personal health and beauty stores, and supermarkets inside department stores.
To bring the Environmental Levy Scheme on Plastic Shopping Bags to the notice of different sectors of the community, the Under Secretary for the Environment, Dr Kitty Poon, today distributed magnets carrying publicity messages to foreign domestic helpers in Central. The messages on the magnets are printed in Chinese, English, Tagalog, Indonesian and Thai to enable domestic helpers of different nationalities to understand that the scheme will begin shortly and to encourage them to bring their own shopping bags.
Source: GovHK (www.gov.hk)
