plastic

Macau | Residents petition Gov’t to ban single use plastics

Macau (MNA) – Local residents have launched a petition asking the Macau government to ban or at least charge a tax on single-use plastics in the city.

The petition was launched this Thursday with 500 signatures being the lowest target set by Change.org.

As of the time that this article was published the petition had gathered 633 signatures with legislator Sulu Sou Ka Hou adhering to the initiative.

The petition – addressed to Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo Arrais do Rosário and Director of Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) Raymond Tam Wai Man – calls for a ban on single-use plastics and unnecessary plastic packaging at local supermarkets or the imposition of a tax.

The founder of the petition, Annie Lao, told Macau News Agency (MNA) that there was no cap on how many signatures the petition could have before sending it to the government. “We don’t have the target numbers yet but we want to wait for at least one to two weeks to see how the public respond to the petition.”

For now, the aim is to gather as many signatures as possible in order to inform the Macau SAR Government about the situation, according to Ms Lao. “The residents of Macau want to make a change but with a lack of options to go zero waste, public education is the most important.”

According to the State of the Environment of Macau 2017 report published by DSPA, the average per person produces 2.16 kilograms of solid waste per day in the city, an increase of 2.9 per cent from last year, which is higher than the comparable waste generated by Singapore (1.49 kilograms) or Hong Kong (1.41 kilograms).

Plastics and food were the largest problems, with 23 per cent of total waste produced in 2017 plastic and 27.4 per cent being food waste.

As un-recyclable plastic waste in Macau is often sent to an incinerator to burn, the impact also affects the health of residents as it has been shown that it releases toxic chemicals, which can be carcinogenic.

However, the aim of the petition is ongoing education.

“Even if the government does not respond, that doesn’t stop us from motivating our friends, our families and our community to make a change,” said Ms Lao.