Arriving in Hong Kong finds plastic everywhere in quarantine hotels: remote controls are wrapped in cellophane, pillows are packed in plastic bags, food comes with plastic cutlery.
Hong Kong’s strict quarantine policies — aimed at stopping Covid-19 at the border and in the community — have been criticized for harming the economy and mental health.
Environmentalists say the policies are also harming the environment by generating excess waste.
“Each of the team members here wears full PPE… the aprons, the gloves, the boots, the hats, and that’s every team member and every floor,” said Clementine Vaughan, a skin care entrepreneur, who flew into the city on April 4.
“The phones, you know, the remotes, everything was wrapped up,” she said, speaking to Reuters from her quarantine hotel.
Hong Kong disposes of more than 2,300 tonnes of plastic waste a day, and with a recycling rate of just 11%, according to government data, most of it ends up in landfills.
A government spokesperson said officials were aware of an increase in single-use waste since the beginning of Covid, urging people to adopt as green a lifestyle as possible.
Edwin Lau of local environmental group The Green Earth said Hong Kong’s approach to Covid reflects its lack of environmental awareness.
“People living in quarantine hotels are not confirmed cases,” Lau said, urging the government to allow recycling or reuse of plastics from quarantine facilities.
Source: CNN Brasil
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