Two fines, 33 warnings issued over plastics ban

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) on Monday said it has issued two fixed penalty tickets and 33 written warnings to premises that have violated the ban on disposable plastic products since a grace period for the new law ended about two months ago. Restaurants are prohibited from using or selling polystyrene utensils, plastic straws, cutlery and plates. Hotels are also banned from freely distributing bathroom items made of plastic, including plastic-handled toothbrushes, plastic-packed toothpaste and shower caps. Other prohibited products include cotton buds, umbrella bags and glow sticks. The EPD said it received 62 complaints and reports about non-compliance and in 33 cases no action was taken to rectify problems. "The EPD has issued written warnings requiring the persons-in-charge to make improvements within 10 working days; otherwise, a fixed penalty notice will be issued," a department spokesman said. Meanwhile, two catering premises were found to be persistently violating the rules and were each issued a fixed penalty ticket of HK$2,000, officials said. "Having reviewed the data in these two months after the adaptation period, most of the non-compliance had been rectified within a short period of time, and only two cases with repeated non-compliance records required the issuance of fixed penalty notices at present," the spokesman said.