The webinar “What is the best way to reduce plastic packaging waste in Hong Kong?”, co-hosted by the Sustainability Unit, the Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), and the Institute for the Environment (IENV) with Guest Organizations: Drink Without Waste, and Hong Kong Baptist University, was successfully held on 5 May 2021. The webinar aimed to facilitate an informed discussion for the upcoming Producer Responsibility Scheme (PRS) for beverage packaging in Hong Kong proposed by HKSAR Government.

A total of 140 participants from environmental NGOs, universities, consultancies, Business Environment Council (BEC), Swire Group, etc attended the webinar. 3 speakers were invited to give a short presentations, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A session moderated by Prof. Davis BOOKHART, Head of Sustainability Unit.

Mr. Paul ZIMMERMAN from Single-Use Beverage Packaging Working Group, who leads the Drink Without Waste alliance, shared his views on why the "polluter pays" principle was important to achieve waste reduction, and how it shaped related policy and environmental outcomes.

Dr. CHUNG Shan Shan, Programme Director of the Master of Science in Environmental and Public Health Management at Hong Kong Baptist University, shared her ideas in making the government's proposed plastic beverage bottle Producer Responsibility Scheme attaining waste reduction and food safety goals at the same time.

Prof. Benjamin STEUER, Assistant Professor from the Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), led a discussion about if we were being on track towards a Circular Economy, in view of the current proposal of managing plastic waste packaging by means of the Producer Responsibility Scheme.

With active participation from various parties, we had a very fruitful discussion on topics like policy tools to reduce packaging waste, the roles of universities, and cross-sectoral collaboration. In moving forward, IENV looks forward to host more similar events in the future and serve as a platform to provide input for policy-makers on how to improve waste plastic management in Hong Kong.

Please click here to view the webinar.