The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (August 8) held the award ceremony for the Bye Bye Microbeads charter at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre to commend Charter participants that have actively supported the phaseout of microbeads in the past two years and to acclaim microbead-free brands.
The EPD launched the Charter in September 2021 to encourage the trade to eliminate rinse-off personal care and cosmetic products (PCCPs) containing microbeads immediately, with a view to reducing the potential risk of microbeads at source to the marine environment.
The Charter has been well received by the trades and achieved remarkable outcomes, with nearly 330 organisations joining as Charter participants, garnering widespread support from PCCPs manufacturers, importers, retailers, beauty and hairdressing salon industry, and trade association. It also successfully encouraged the community to join hands to disseminate information on the phaseout of microbeads to the public through different platforms. Over 160 microbead-free brands were listed on the thematic website, while the rate of Internet search for the keyword "microbeads" has substantially increased by over 330 per cent. Over 10 000 products have been examined during the period and none of the products was found to contain microbeads.
Moreover, the Charter has won two international public relations awards this year, namely the Public Sector Award of the Public Relations & Communications Association – Asia Pacific Awards and the Silver Award for the "Environmental" category of the PR Awards Asia-Pacific, which have recognised the Charter's outstanding achievements in driving the trade and the public to eliminate microbeads.
Speaking at the award ceremony, the Acting Secretary for the Environment and Ecology, Miss Diane Wong, said that the Government has been concerned about the environmental problems arising from waste plastics and microplastics. In addition to promoting a plastic-free culture and implementing waste reduction, it also launched the voluntary plan for the elimination of microbeads, allowing the industry to demonstrate its determination to eliminate microbeads from the source, while maintaining the current business environment that is relatively relaxed and free. She said she was pleased to see the strong support to the Charter from various sectors of the community to protect marine environment. She said she hoped that the trade and the public will continue the journey of Bye Bye Microbeads to completely eliminate the impact of microbeads on the environment and ecology.
With the trade's active collaboration in supporting the implementation of the Charter and the proactive phaseout of microbeads, Hong Kong has successfully controlled the flow of microbead products in the local market at source through a voluntary phaseout approach. To learn more about the Charter details as well as the list of Charter participants and microbead-free brands, please visit the thematic website of the Bye Bye Microbeads charter (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/clean_shorelines/byebyemicrobeads/en).
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