Reducing Plastic Waste in Hong Kong: Public Opinion Survey of Bottled Water Consumption and Attitudes Towards Plastic Waste Full Report

Transcription

1 Reducing Plastic Waste in Hong Kong: Public Opinion Survey of Bottled Water Consumption and Attitudes Towards Plastic Waste Full Report April 2015 Mandy Lao Man-lei and Carine Lai

2 1 Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 2 Overall Consumption and Habits Bottled water Bottled beverages Tap water Section summary 15 3 Concern vs. Action Do attitudes affect behaviour? Environmental attitudes Environmental attitudes and bottled water consumption Environmental attitudes and water dispenser usage Environmental attitudes and self-reported recycling and reuse Knowledge of plastic waste Section summary 31 4 Making Change Easy Encouraging water dispenser usage Encouraging recycling Section summary 50 5 Targeting the Right People Demographics of bottled water consumption Demographics of bottled beverage consumption Demographics of perceptions of tap water Demographics of environmental knowledge and attitudes Section summary 80 6 Focus Group Reactions to Suggested Policies for Reducing Plastic Waste Ban on selling and providing plastic bottled water and beverages Encouraging water dispenser usage Regulations on beverage manufacturers Tax on plastic bottled water and beverage consumption Deposit and return scheme Education on reduction of plastic bottled waste Other suggestions Section summary 84 7 Conclusion Key findings and discussion Recommendations 85 Appendix 1 Methodology and Limitations 89 Appendix 2 Demographic Profile of Respondents 91 Appendix 3 Survey Questionnaire 93

3 2 1. Introduction Reducing Plastic Bottle Waste in Hong Kong: Public Opinion Survey on Bottled Water Consumption and Attitudes towards Plastic Waste Hong Kong s daily domestic waste generation rate is high compared to other developed Asian cities. 1 Rapid generation of municipal solid waste has put enormous pressure on Hong Kong s three existing landfills which will be full by the mid to late 2010s. Plastic waste, as one of the major waste types disposed of at landfills in Hong Kong, constitutes 19.7 per cent of municipal solid waste in 2012, which 1,826 tonnes of plastic waste were generated every day. 2 Consumption of plastic bottled water and beverages is very common in Hong Kong. According to results from the survey conducted by the Global Environmental Journalism Initiative and Hong Kong Baptist University in 2010, people in Hong Kong are increasingly relying on bottled water and some buy up to ten bottles each week. 3 According to Marketline, million litres of bottled water (which it defines as including still, sparkling and flavoured water) were sold in Hong Kong in With a population of 7.2 million in 2013, this amounts to about 58 litres per person. 4 This report focuses on bottled water as it is a largely unnecessary and avoidable form of plastic waste generation. Bottled water is not necessarily any safer or healthier than tap water, and in many cases is taken from municipal tap water sources. 5 This survey seeks to understand Hong Kong residents habits and consumption patterns regarding disposable plastic bottled water and beverages. This information will inform policy recommendations and educational strategies to encourage behavioural changes to reduce plastic waste at the source. The study also examines environmental awareness of the public concerning plastic waste and whether people s attitudes and perceptions affect their behaviour. A public opinion survey and focus group discussions were carried out as part of this study. Fixed line telephone interviews with 1,013 randomly selected respondents were carried out in August A small number of respondents were selected to participate in two focus groups following the completion of the survey in order to explore alternatives to bottled water and beverages, as well as policies to reduce plastic waste in generation in Hong Kong. See Appendix 1 for a detailed explanation of the survey methodology and limitations. 1 Council for Sustainable Development (2014), Municipal Solid Waste Charging Public Engagement Process: Knowledge Portal, 2 Environmental Protection Department (2012), 3 Global Environmental Journalism Initiative and Hong Kong Baptist University (2010), Plastic Bottles Around the World: Key Points of Interest, (removed by host). 4 MarketLine (2014), Bottled Water in Hong Kong, 24 August 2014, (accessed 5 March 2015). 5 Tan, Debra (2011), Just what is bottled water?, 11 March 2011, (accessed 5 March 2015).

4 3 2. Overall consumption and habits This section will provide an overview of respondents consumption of bottled water, bottled drinks and tap water. This will provide an overall picture of respondents current behaviour and habits in order to establish a baseline for policy intervention. 2.1 Bottled water Level of consumption Respondents were asked whether they usually drank more bottled water or tap water. Nearly half of the respondents drank only tap water (46.9 per cent) and just over one-third usually drank more tap water than bottled water (37.2 per cent). The remaining 16 per cent said that at least half of their water intake consisted of bottled water. Just one per cent drank only bottled water. Figure 1: About your daily water drinking habits, do you usually drink: Only tap water 46.9% More tap water than bottled water 37.2% About half and half 9.3% More bottled water than tap water 5.7% Only bottled water 1.0% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 1,001 valid cases. Base = All water-drinking respondents. Don t know" excluded. Those respondents who did drink bottled water were then asked how often they purchased it, and how much money they spent on bottled water each week in the past month. Out of all the respondents (including those who did not drink bottled water), about a fifth said that they rarely or never bought bottled water. Only about 15 per cent of respondents said that they purchased bottled water once a week or more. Similarly a plurality of those who bought bottled water reported spending HK$10 or less per week on it in the last month. About 11 per cent or the overall sample said that they did not spend anything on bottled water in the last month, while 16 per cent said that they spent between HK$1 and HK$10. Only 6 per cent of the overall sample spent HK$31 or more. To sum up, just under half of the respondents drank only tap water, and of those who drank bottled water, most were occasional consumers purchasing it less than once a week and spending less than HK$20 per week on it. A tiny percentage, around 5-9 per cent were heavy consumers who bought it at least several times a week and spent more than HK$30 on it. However, this survey likely underestimates bottled water consumption due to the oversampling of women and respondents over 55 as these two demographics consume less bottled water (see Section 5 for details). Therefore, the figures presented here should be viewed as a conservative estimate of bottled water consumption in Hong Kong.

5 4 Figure 2: How often do you buy bottled water? Every day or nearly every day A few times a week About once a week Several times a month About once a month 3.1% 5.7% 6.7% 8.2% 5.2% Rarely 20.5% Never Don't know 1.0% 2.9% Do not drink bottled water 46.7% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0% Percentage of respondents (excluding "Don't know") 1,004 valid cases. Base = All water-drinking respondents. Figure 3: How much did you spend on bottled water per week on average in the last month? HK51 or above HK$41-50 HK$31-40 HK$21-30 HK$11-20 HK$1-10 HK$0 Don't know Drink but never buy bottled water Do not drink bottled water 3.4% 1.8% 0.7% 4.8% 8.1% 15.9% 11.3% 4.5% 2.9% 46.7% 1,004 valid cases. Base = All water-drinking respondents. 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% Percentage of respondents

6 Table 1: Frequency of purchase by weekly spending on bottled water HK$0 HK$1-10 HK$11-20 HK$21-30 HK$31-50 HK$51+ Don t know Daily to several times weekly 2.7% 5.6% (9) 18.8% (15) 44.7% (21) 58.3% (14) 54.5% (18) 19.0% (8) Weekly to several times monthly 4.5% (5) 40.0% (64) 48.8% (39) 34.0% (16) 25.0% (6) 18.2% (6) 33.3% (14) Monthly or rarely 92.7% 54.4% 32.5% 21.3% 16.7% 27.3% 47.6% (102) (87) (26) (10) (9) (20) (110) (160) (80) (47) (24) (33) (42) 496 valid cases. Base = Bottled water buyers. Don t know excluded for frequency of purchase. Purchase frequency is strongly correlated with weekly spending. The more people spend each week on bottled water, the more frequently they buy it. While it is impossible for those spending less than HK$10 a week on bottled water to buy it more than once or twice a week given that each bottle costs approximately HK$5, the correlation continues at the higher end of the spending scale. Even among those spending over HK$30 a week, infrequent bulk purchases appear to be relatively uncommon. Of those who spent an average of HK$31 and HK$50 per week during the past month, 58.3 per cent were buying bottled water daily or several times a week. Just 16.7 per cent were buying on a monthly to rare basis (which would imply bulk purchase or household order). There was a slight drop in frequency among those over HK$50 a week, who make up a mere 6.7 per cent of bottled water buyers per cent were still buying it at least several times a week, 27.3 per cent, were buying it monthly or rarely Bottled water purchasing habits Those who bought bottled water were asked about several aspects of their purchasing habits, including what sized bottle they typically bought, where they shopped, when they bought it, and how they chose what type of bottled water to buy. Figure 4: What volume of bottled water do you buy most of the time? (Bottled water buyers) 5 Very large (more than 8 glasses/larger t han 2L) 2.2% Large (4-8 glasses/1l to 2L) 7.2% Medium (2-4 glasses/ 500ml to 1L) 49.0% Small (less than 2 glasses/ Less than 500ml) 41.6% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% Percentage of respondents 500 valid cases. Base = Bottled water buyers. Don t know excluded.

7 6 Table 2: Volume of bottles usually purchased by frequency of purchase Every day or nearly every day Several times a month A few times a week About once a week About once a month Rarely Overall Less than 29.0% 23.2% 41.8% 48.8% 38.5% 47.3% 42.0% 500ml (9) (13) (28) (40) (20) (96) (206) 500ml-1l 38.7% 60.7% 49.3% 43.9% 51.9% 47.8% 48.7% (12) (34) (33) (36) (27) (97) (239) 1l-2l 19.4% 14.3% 7.5% 4.9% 5.8% 4.4% 7.1% (6) (8) (5) (9) (35) More 12.9% 1.8% 1.5% 2.4% 3.8% 0.5% 2.2% than 2l (11) (31) (56) (67) (82) (52) (203) (491) 491 valid cases. Base = Bottled water buyers. Don t know excluded. Table 3: Volume of bottles usually purchased by weekly spending HK$0 HK$1-10 HK$11-20 HK$21-30 HK$31-50 HK$51+ Less than 500ml 47.7% 44.0% 37.0% 40.4% 37.5% 17.6% (53) (70) (30) (19) (9) (6) 500ml-1l 49.5% 52.2% 50.6% 42.6% 45.8% 52.9% (55) (83) (41) (20) (11) (18) 1l-2l 1.8% 3.8% 11.1% 17.0% 12.5% 14.7% (6) (9) (8) (5) More than 2l 0.9% 0.0% 1.2% 0.0% 4.2% 14.7% (5) (111) (159) (81) (47) (24) (34) 456 valid cases. Base = Bottled water buyers. Don t know excluded. The vast majority of respondents usually bought bottles of 1l or smaller, with 41.6 per cent buying bottles smaller than 500ml, and another 49 per cent buying bottles between 500ml and 1l. Less than 10 per cent usually bought large bottles. This suggests that the vast majority of bottled water purchases are for convenient individual, immediate consumption. People who bought large bottles, most likely for household use, were generally found among the most frequent purchasers per cent of who bought bottled water at least several times a week bought bottles of 1l or larger, compared to 8 per cent of those who bought bottled water between once a week and several times a month, and 5.9 per cent of those who bought bottled water monthly to rarely. A comparison of weekly spending with volume of bottles finds that large bottles are mostly bought by high spenders. Among those spending HK$51 or more per week, 29.4 per cent of respondents usually bought bottles of 1l or larger. Among those spending HK$31-50 per week, that figure was 16 per cent. However, among those spending only HK$1-10 per week, just 3.8 per cent usually bought bottles of 1l or larger. This suggests that more high spenders bought large bottles for household use. Still, they were are a minority. Even among those spending over HK$51 per week, 70.5 per cent still usually bought bottles of 1l or smaller.

8 7 Figure 5: Under what circumstances do you buy bottled water? When doing shopping or other errands 51.2% When doing exercise or outdoor activities 18.4% When going to work 9.1% When going home 1.8% Others 19.6% 506 valid cases. Base = Bottled water buyers. Don t know excluded. 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% Percentage of respondents Figure 6: Where do you usually buy bottled water? Convenience store 71.3% Supermarket 36.8% Grocer 15.2% Vending machine Gas station Household order 2.0% 2.0% 1.6% Other 6.9% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% Percentage of respondents 499 valid cases. Base = Bottled water buyers. Respondents allowed to choose more than 1 option A pattern of small, spontaneous purchases is consistent with the finding that over half of respondents said that they usually bought bottled water while shopping or doing errands 6 and that 18.4 per cent bought bottled water while exercising. Additionally, by far the most common location that respondents usually bought bottled water at was convenience stores, with 73.1 per cent reporting that they did so per cent also reported buying bottled water at supermarkets, and 15.2 per cent reported buying it at grocers (small, usually family-run stores selling an assortment of household staples and snacks). Very small percentages reported buying at vending machines or gas stations, or ordering a household supply. Small bottles generate more plastic waste per litre of water consumed than larger bottles. Policymakers should therefore focus especially on discouraging their purchase. 6 The question s Chinese wording for shopping ( 逛街 ) implies casual shopping rather than planned grocery shopping trips.

9 8 Figure 7: What is the most important criterion for you when choosing bottled water to buy? Brand 30.5% Price 28.9% Nothing in particular 15.3% Water quality 7.4% Taste 2.4% Convenient 2.0% Mineral composition 2.0% Bottle's capacity 1.8% Habit 1.2% Spring or country of origin 0.8% Recommendation by someone 0.6% Bottle's design, appearance, shape 0.6% Green / environmental policy of the supplier 0.4% Others 6.2% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 502 valid cases. Base = Bottled water buyers. Don t know excluded. When looking at what factors influence respondents choice of bottled water, 30.5 per cent said brand, another 28.5 per cent said price, and a further 15.3 per cent said nothing in particular. This shows that bottled water is treated by most consumers as an undifferentiated commodity. This results in a heavy reliance on branding as this is the major distinguishing characteristic. Greater proportions of women, those aged 35 or above, less educated respondents, and those with incomes of HK$30,000 a month or above tended to consider brand as the most important criterion in choosing bottled water. Price also played an important role in purchase decisions. If all bottled water is seen as basically the same, then unit price would likely be a deciding factor. For those who considered price as their most important criterion, the proportion of men was relatively higher than women. Young people aged between 18 and 34, people with post-secondary educational attainment and people with a monthly income between HK$15,000 and HK$29,999 were more likely to consider price as their most important criterion when buying bottled water. In fact, more respondents chose nothing in particular than those who named any concrete preference for water quality, taste, mineral composition, or country of origin. Only 0.4 per cent named the supplier s environmental policies, which shows a very low level of awareness of consumer ethics in this area. Even among the 67 respondents who drank mostly or only bottled water, convenience was still the primary consideration. Over half of them said that they chose bottled water because of convenience or availability (58.2 per cent). The second and third most common reasons included not having any other choice or that tap water was not available where they worked or lived (22.4 per cent), and reasons of safety, quality, cleanliness and purity (13.4 per cent).

10 9 2.2 Bottled Beverages Level of consumption Respondents were asked whether they usually drank more water or more flavoured beverages. Overall, the respondents showed a clear preference for drinking water over flavoured beverages, with about 30 per cent drinking only water, while a tiny proportion, 0.9 per cent, drank only beverages. The roughly 10 per cent of respondents who drank mostly or only beverages were asked the reasons for their preference. The most common replies were taste or flavour (51.1 per cent), followed by habit (17.0 per cent), disliking water (12.8 per cent) and health or nutrition (11.7 per cent). A stronger preference for flavoured beverages over water is also correlated with a stronger preference for bottled water over tap water. That is, those who drank more flavoured beverages also drank more bottled water. While just 18.6 per cent of those who drank only tap water were heavy drinkers of flavoured beverages (i.e. at least half of what they drank consisted of beverages rather than water), 37.7 per cent of heavy drinkers of bottled water (i.e. at least half of the water they drank was bottled) were also heavy drinkers of flavoured beverages (see Table 4). Figure 8: About your daily drinking habits, do you usually drink: More water than beverages 44.5% Only water 29.2% About half and half 17.0% More beverages than water 8.4% Only beverages(include soda water and sparkling water) 0.9% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 1,010 valid cases. Base = All respondents. Don t know excluded Table 4: Preference for beverages vs water by preference for bottled vs tap water Drink only tap water Heavy drinkers of beverages (half and half, more beverages than 18.6% water, and only beverages) (87) Light drinkers of beverages (more 37.1% water than beverages) (174) Drink only water 44.3% (208) Percentage ( Count) (469) 998 valid cases. Base = All respondents. Don t know excluded. Light drinkers of bottled water (more tap water than bottled water) 29.5% (109) 53.8% (199) 16.8% (62) (370) Heavy drinkers of bottled water (half and half, more bottled water than tap water, and only bottled water) 37.7% (60) 47.2% (75) 15.1% (24) (159)

11 10 Figure 9: What type of beverage do you drink most often? Others 2.7% Can drinks 17.2% Tetrapack drinks 36.7% Glass bottled drinks 5.1% Plastic bottled drinks 38.3% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% Percentage of beverage drinkers 809 valid cases. Base = All beverage drinkers. Don t know excluded. Respondents were asked what type of packaged beverages they drank most often per cent of those who drank packaged beverages said that they usually drank plastic bottled drinks, as opposed to tetra packs, cans, or glass bottled. They stated that their reasons for choosing plastic bottles over other forms of packaging included convenient to carry (43.3 per cent), capacity of bottle (14.3 per cent), bottle s design, appearance and shape (9.4 per cent) and variety of choice (8.8 per cent). Those respondents who usually chose plastic bottled drinks were further asked about their purchasing habits. (Note that the following figures cannot be compared to those for bottled water consumption because these questions included only those who already stated a preference for buying plastic bottled beverages, as opposed to all beverage drinkers). Out of those who usually chose plastic bottled drinks, 47.2 per cent bought them at least once a week and 28.9 per cent of them spent HK$31 or more per week on beverages. Figure 10: How often do you buy bottled beverages? Every day or nearly every day 5.0% A few times a week 25.7% About once a week Several times a month 16.5% 18.2% About once a month 9.9% Rarely 23.4% Never 1.3% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% Percentage of respondents (excluding "Don't know") 303 valid cases. Base = Usual bottled beverage buyers. Don t know excluded.

12 Figure 11: How much did you spend on plastic bottled beverages per week on average in the last month? 11 HK51 or above 14.6% HK$ % HK$ % HK$ % HK$ % HK$ % HK$0 12.1% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% Percentage of respondents 281 valid cases. Base = Bottled beverage buyers. Don t know excluded Bottled beverage purchasing habits Among those respondents who expressed a preference for plastic bottled beverages (as opposed to other forms of packaged drinks), 51.3 per cent reported that they most often bought beverages while shopping or doing other errands. A large majority (74.3 per cent) usually bought beverages at convenience stores. Roughly a third of this group bought beverages at supermarkets (37.5 per cent) and about a tenth bought them at grocers (9.2 per cent). The vast majority of bottled drinks buyers usually bought small (500ml or less) or medium-sized (500ml-1l) bottles. Only a tiny minority, less than 6 per cent, usually bought large or very large bottles. These figures also point towards most bottled drinks purchases being convenience-driven and intended for immediate personal consumption, rather than large volume household purchases. As with bottled water, this pattern of purchases is more wasteful of plastic than if larger bottles were purchased. Figure 12: Under what circumstances would you buy plastic bottled beverages most often? When doing shopping or other errands 51.3% When doing exercise or outdoor activities 11.8% When going to work 7.8% When going home 2.9% Others 26.1% 306 valid cases. Base = Usual bottled beverage buyers. Don t know excluded. 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% Percentage of respondents

13 12 Figure 13: Where do you usually buy plastic bottled drinks? Convenience store 73.6% Supermarket 37.1% Grocer 9.1% Vending machine Gas station Household order Other 3.6% 0.3% 0.3% 2.3% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% Percentage of respondents 307 valid cases. Base = Bottled beverage buyers. Don t know excluded. Respondents allowed to give more than one answer. Figure.14: What volume of bottled beverages do you buy most of the time? Very large (more than 8 glasses/larger t han 2L) 0.3% Large (4-8 glasses/1l to 2L) 5.3% Medium (2-4 glasses/ 500ml to 1L) 47.7% Small (less than 2 glasses/ Less than 500ml) 46.7% 302 valid cases. Base = Usual bottled beverage buyers. Don t know excluded. 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% Percentage of respondents 2.3 Tap Water 99 per cent of respondents drank tap water to some degree per cent of the respondents drank only tap water and 37.2 per cent usually drank more tap water than bottled water. Among those who drank only or mostly tap water, the reasons given for choosing tap water over bottled water were convenience or availability (37.6 per cent), followed by low cost of tap water (37.1 per cent), water quality (17 per cent) and health (15 per cent) Location of drinking tap water Unsurprisingly, nearly all respondents (96.6 per cent) reported they usually drank tap water at home. Additionally, 32.8 per cent of respondents drank tap water at work or at school (respondents were allowed to give more than one answer). As 53.9 per cent of respondents were either employed or students, we can calculate that around 6 in 10 workers or students drink tap water at work or at school. Less than one-tenth of respondents usually drank tap water at public water fountains or dispensers. This shows that regular use of public water dispensers is rare in Hong Kong.

14 13 Figure 15: Where do you usually drink tap water? Do you usually drink it: (Multiple answers) At home 96.6% At work or school 32.8% From public water fountains or dispensers, such as a library or sports centre 9.2% Others 4.8% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 992 valid cases. Base = All tap water drinkers. Don t know excluded. Respondents allowed to give more than one answer Quality of tap water In general, people s perception towards the quality of tap water was positive. Nearly half of respondents rated it as good (39.5 per cent) and very good (8.9 per cent) while two-fifths rated it as so-so (39.9 per cent). Only less than one-tenth of them rated it as poor or very poor (6.0 per cent). Since over half of respondents bottled water, this suggests that the perception of tap water quality is not a significant driver of bottled water consumption. Figure 17 shows that people who drink a lot of bottled water (half bottled water or more) are only marginally less likely to rate tap water good or very good than those who drink mostly or only tap water. Improving or promoting the quality of Hong Kong s tap water is therefore unlikely to have an effect on bottled water consumption. Figure 16: How would you rate the quality of tap water in Hong Kong? Poor 4.9% Very poor 1.1% Don't know 5.6% Very good 8.9% So-so 39.9% Good 39.5% 994 valid cases. Base = All tap water drinkers However, in spite of the generally positive ratings that respondents gave to tap water in Hong Kong, virtually all respondents boiled or filtered their tap water before drinking it per cent boiled it, 4.8 per cent filtered it, and as many as 26.6 per cent did both. When asked why they boiled or filtered tap water, respondents most common reasons were to kill bacteria and germs (45.1 per cent), followed by ensure safety (40.1 per cent), habit (19 per cent), remove impurities (15.5 per cent) and healthier (10.7 per cent). This indicated a general concept that tap water should be boiled before drinking because un-boiled water contains bacteria and impurities which is unsafe or unhealthy for drinking.

15 People who rated the quality of tap water as very good or good were more likely to only boil tap water before drinking. On the other hand, those who rated the quality of tap water as poor or very poor were more likely to both filter and boil tap water. This indicates that if policymakers wish the public to reduce their consumption of bottled water by offering alternatives in the form of public water dispensers, they will need to address people s reluctance to drink straight from the tap. The water dispensers will need to provide filtered water in order to win widespread public acceptance. Figure 17 (with table): Rating of tap water by water drinking habits 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Tap water only More tap than bottled At least half bottled Very good Good So-so Poor Very poor Don't know Drink tap water only Drink more tap water than bottled water Drink at least half bottled water Very good 9.2% 7.5% 11.3% (43) (28) (17) Good 39.9% 41.1% 34.0% (187) (153) (51) So-so 36.9% 41.4% 46.7% (173) (154) (70) Poor 5.3% 3.8% 6.7% (25) (14) (10) Very poor 0.6% 1.6% 0.7% (6) Don t know 8.1% 4.6% 0.7% (38) (17) (469) (372) (150) 991 valid cases. Base = All tap water drinkers. Don t know for drinking preference excluded. 14

16 Figure 18: Do you usually drink tap water straight from the tap, or do you filter, boil or treat it in some other way? 15 Boiled tap water 67.9% Filtered and boiled tap water 26.6% Filtered tap water 4.8% Straight from the tap 0.7% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 993 valid cases. Base = All tap water drinkers. Don t know excluded. Table 5: Tap water treatment method, by perception of tap water quality Very good Good So-so Poor Very poor Don t know Straight from the tap 2.3%.8%.3% 0.0% 0.0% 1.8%.7% Boiled tap water 77.3% 71.5% 64.6% 46.9% 18.2% 78.6% 67.9% (68) (281) (256) (23) (44) (68) Filtered tap water 3.4% 4.8% 5.6% 6.1% 9.1% 0.0% 4.8% (19) (22) Filtered and boiled tap water 17.0% 22.9% 29.5% 46.9% 72.7% 19.6% 26.6% (15) (90) (117) (23) (8) (11) (15) (88) (393) (396) (49) (11) (56) (88) 993 valid cases. Base = Tap water drinkers. Don t know for water treatment method excluded. 2.4 Section Summary Approximately half of the respondents were at least occasional consumers of bottled water, while 7 out of 10 consumed flavoured beverages. About 16 per cent can be regarded as heavy consumers of bottled water who say that at least half of their water intake consists of bottled water. However, this survey should be considered a conservative estimate of the overall level of bottled water consumption in Hong Kong due to the oversampling of women and people aged 55 and over (see Section 4 for details). From the data on the volume of bottles usually purchased, the types of shops consumers usually patronise, and the circumstances that people usually buy bottled water in, it appears that the majority of bottled water purchases are small-scale, spontaneous, and for immediate personal consumption. This is more wasteful of plastic than bulk household purchases of larger bottles. Policy should therefore be aimed at encouraging people to bring refillable bottles with them, and to choose larger containers over smaller ones if they must purchase pre-packaged beverages or water. Much bottled water consumption appears convenience-driven rather than a health decision. Even among the heaviest bottled water consumers, only 15 per cent said that they drank bottled water (as opposed to tap water) for health reasons. Additionally, when bottled water consumers were asked what factors influenced their choice of bottled water, only single digit percentages named attributes such as water quality or mineral composition. Moreover, respondents generally had a positive perception of Hong Kong s tap water quality, and having a negative perception towards tap water quality was only associated with a marginal increase in preference for bottled water. This indicates that public education campaigns to reassure the public of tap water quality in Hong Kong is unlikely to have an impact on bottled water consumption.

17 16 3. Concern vs Action 3.1 Do attitudes affect behaviour? Respondents were asked three questions about how much they cared about the problem of plastic waste in Hong Kong. They were asked to rate the seriousness of plastic waste as a problem, the level of priority the government should give it, and their own personal concern about it. In order to gauge how well-informed respondents were about plastic waste, they were asked to estimate what proportion of waste going into Hong Kong s landfills is plastic. This section will examine the extent to which concern and knowledge about plastic waste in Hong Kong affects consumption of bottled water, water dispenser usage, and plastic recycling behaviour. Figure 19: How serious do you think the plastic waste problem is in Hong Kong? Figure 20: How high of a priority should the government make the plastic waste problem in Hong Kong? 0.2% 7.4% 7.7% 31.0% Very serious Serious Not so serious 1.7% 3.3% 11.8% 32.3% Top priority Medium priority Low priority 53.7% Not serious at all Don't know 51.2% Not a problem Don't know 1,013 valid cases. Base = All respondents 1,013 valid cases. Base = All respondents Figure 21: How much concern do you have about the plastic waste problem in Hong Kong? 5.1% 4.5% 15.0% 29.3% 46.0% Great deal Some Little None Don't know 1,013 valid cases. Base = All respondents 3.2 Environmental attitudes Altogether, 84.7 per cent of respondents agree that plastic waste is a serious or very serious problem. Similarly, 83.5 per cent of respondents said that the government should place a high or medium priority on the problem. However, a considerably lower percentage, 61 per cent, said that they had a great deal or some concern about the problem. Similarly, about half the number of respondents said they had a great deal of concern (15 per cent) as those who said it was a very serious problem (31 per cent) or should be a top government priority (32.3 per cent). The fact that

18 around half of all respondents picked the moderate answer, ( serious, medium priority and some concern ), shows that people realise that it is socially acceptable to say that plastic waste is a problem concerning society, but the issue has little personal urgency. Participants of the focus groups expressed varying levels of concern about the plastic waste problem in Hong Kong. Those who had a great deal of concern about this issue realised that plastic waste is non-biodegradable, which will bring harmful impacts to the environment and the next generation. Some people recognised the problem but were more concerned about other environmental issues, such as air pollution or food waste, rather than plastic waste. Also, not many participants said they would consider changing their behaviour in the consumption of plastic bottled beverages for environmental reasons. Instead, they said they would throw their bottles in the recycling bin as long as it was properly emptied. They claimed no environmental problems would be caused by their behaviour as long as the plastic bottles were recycled. Given the attitudes expressed, one would expect that concern about plastic waste would have little association with bottled water consumption, but a stronger association with recycling. This is what the data show Environmental attitudes and bottled water consumption Environmental attitudes and water drinking habits Concern about plastic waste is not correlated with a greater preference for drinking tap water. In fact, those who gave moderate answers, i.e. that plastic waste was a serious problem, that it deserved a medium level of government priority and that they had some concern about it were less likely to be drinkers of only tap water than either those who placed either more or less emphasis on the problem of plastic waste. Respondents who had no opinion and replied don t know had the greatest preference for tap water. This is due to the fact that those who answer don t know tend to be older and less educated than the respondent pool as a whole, and these two groups tend to consume less bottled water in general (see Section 5) Environmental attitudes and bottled water purchase frequency Among those who drank bottled water, concern about plastic waste appeared to be associated with a mild reduction in purchase frequency. Those with more concern about plastic waste were somewhat more likely to say that they only purchased bottled water monthly, rarely or never per cent of those who had a great deal of concern about plastic waste said that they bought bottled water monthly, rarely or never, compared with 49.7 per cent of those who had little or no concern about plastic waste. Similar patterns held for government priority and seriousness. However, paradoxically, those who gave strong answers ( very serious, top priority or great deal of concern ) were actually slightly more likely to buy bottled water daily or several times a week than those who gave moderate answers.

19 18 Figure 22 (with table): Water drinking habits by views on seriousness of plastic waste problem At least half bottled More tap than bottled Tap water only 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 15.8% 16.4% 16.5% 13.3% 34.5% 39.7% 35.4% 49.7% 43.9% 48.1% Very serious Serious Not so serious/not serious at all 32.0% 54.7% Don't know Very serious Serious Not so serious/not serious at all Heavy bottled water drinkers (half and half, more bottled 15.8% 16.4% 16.5% than tap, and only bottled) (49) (88) (13) Light bottled water drinkers 34.5% 39.7% 35.4% (more tap than bottled) (107) (213) (28) Tap water only drinkers 49.7% 43.9% 48.1% (154) (236) (38) (310) (537) (79) 1,001 valid cases. Base = All water drinkers. Don t know for water drinking habits excluded. Don t know 13.3% (10) 32.0% (24) 54.7% (41) (75) Figure 23 (with table): Water drinking habits by views on government priority for plastic waste 15.8% 17.2% 19.1% 10.1% 80% 33.6% 37.6% 38.6% 27.7% 60% At least half bottled More tap than bottled 40% Tap water only 20% 46.6% 44.2% 53.2% 56.3% 0% Top priority Medium priority Low priority/not a problem Don't know Heavy bottled water drinkers (half and half, more bottled than tap, and only bottled) Light bottled water drinkers (more tap than bottled) Top priority 15.8% (51) Medium priority 44.2% (88) Low priority/ Not a problem 19.1% (9) 37.6% (121) 38.6% (198) 27.7% (13) Tap water only drinkers 46.6% 17.2% 53.2% (150) (227) (25) (322) (513) (47) 1,001 valid cases. Base = All water drinkers. Don t know for water drinking habits excluded. Don t know 10.1% (12) 33.6% (40) 56.3% (67) (119)

20 19 Figure 24 (with table): Water drinking habits by level of concern about plastic waste 18.5% 15.0% 16.5% 22.0% 80% 34.4% 41.4% 32.3% 60% At least half bottled 40.0% More tap than bottled 40% Tap water only 20% 47.0% 43.6% 51.2% 38.0% 6.8% 31.8% 61.4% Heavy bottled water drinkers (half and half, more bottled than tap, and only bottled) Light bottled water drinkers (more tap than bottled) Tap water only drinkers 0% Great deal of concern Great deal 18.5% (28) 34.4% (52) 47.0% (71) Some concern Little concern None Don't know Some concern 15.0% (69) 41.4% (190) 43.6% (200) Little concern None Don t know 16.5% (49) 32.3% (96) 51.2% (152) 22.0% (11) 40.0% (20) 38.0% (19) 6.8% 31.8% (14) 61.4% (27) (151) (459) (297) (50) (44) 1,001 valid cases. Base = All water drinkers. Don t know for water drinking habits excluded. Figure 25 (with table): Frequency of bottled water purchase by views on seriousness of plastic waste problem Never Monthly to rarely Weekly to several times a month Daily to several times a week 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 5.8% 5.4% 2.4% 51.3% 48.7% 50.0% 21.4% 32.2% 31.0% 21.4% 13.8% 16.7% Very serious Serious Not so serious/not serious at all 9.7% 41.9% 25.8% 22.6% Don't know Very serious Serious Not so serious/ Not serious at all Never 5.8% 5.4% 2.4% (9) (16) Monthly to rarely 51.3% 48.7% 50.0% (79) (145) (21) Several times a month to 21.4% 32.2% 31.0% monthly (33) (96) (13) Daily to several times a week 21.4% 13.8% 16.7% (33) (41) (7) (154) (298) (42) 525 valid cases. Base = Bottled water drinkers. Don t know for purchase frequency excluded. Don t know 9.7% 41.9% (13) 25.8% (8) 22.6% (7) (31)

21 20 Figure 26 (with table): Frequency of bottled water purchase by views on government priority for plastic waste Never Monthly to rarely Weekly to several times a month Daily to several times a week 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 5.8% 3.9% 4.5% 50.9% 49.8% 26.3% 30.4% 17.0% 15.9% 40.9% 22.7% 31.8% Top priority Medium priority Low priority/not a problem 14.3% 42.9% 28.6% 14.3% Don't know Top priority Medium priority Low priority/ Not a problem Never 5.8% 3.9% 4.5% (10) (11) Monthly to rarely 50.9% 49.8% 40.9% (87) (141) (9) Several times a month to 26.3% 30.4% 22.7% monthly (45) (86) (5) Daily to several times a week 17.0% 15.9% 31.8% (29) (45) (7) (171) (283) (22) 525 valid cases. Base = Bottled water drinkers. Don t know for purchase frequency excluded. Don t know 14.3% (7) 42.9% (21) 28.6% (14) 14.3% (7) (49) Figure 27 (with table): Frequency of bottled water purchase by level of concern about plastic waste Never Monthly to rarely Weekly to several times a month Daily to several times a week 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 10.1% 49.4% 24.1% 30.6% 16.5% 13.6% 4.3% 4.9% 3.2% 51.6% 45.8% 29.6% 19.7% 41.9% 22.6% 32.3% 13.3% 53.3% 20.0% 13.3% Great deal Some Little None Don't know Great deal Some concern Little concern None Don t know Never 10.1% 4.3% 4.9% 3.2% 13.3% (8) (11) (7) Monthly to rarely 49.4% 51.6% 45.8% 41.9% 53.3% (39) (133) (65) (13) (8) Several times a month to monthly 24.1% (19) 30.6% (79) 29.6% (42) 22.6% (7) 20.0% Daily to several times a week 16.5% (13) 13.6% (35) 19.7% (28) 32.3% (10) 13.3% (79) (258) (142) (31) (15) 525 valid cases. Base = Bottled water drinkers. Don t know for purchase frequency excluded.

22 Figure 28 (with table): Weekly spending on bottled water by views on seriousness of plastic waste problem HK$51+ HK$41-50 HK$31-40 HK$21-30 HK$11-20 HK$1-10 HK$0 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2.9% 9.5% 2.2% 4.2% 6.1% 5.4% 0.8% 5.4% 12.0% 2.7% 10.3% 8.0% 9.5% 16.2% 8.0% 16.8% 21.9% 10.8% 12.0% 27.0% 39.7% 35.1% 27.0% 22.1% 24.3% Very serious Serious Not so serious/not serious at all 24.0% 36.0% Don't know 21 Very serious Serious Not so serious/ Not serious at all HK$ % 6.1% 5.4% (13) (16) HK$ % 4.2% 5.4% (11) HK$ % 0.8% 2.7% HK$ % 10.3% 16.2% (13) (27) (6) HK$ % 16.8% 10.8% (30) (44) HK$ % 39.7% 35.1% (37) (104) (13) HK$0 27% 22.1% 23.3% (37) (58) (9) (137) (262) (37) 461 valid cases. Base = Bottled water buyers. Don t know for weekly spending excluded. Don t know 12.0% 8.0% 0% 8.0% 12.0% 24.0% (6) 36.0% (9) (25) Environmental attitudes and weekly spending on bottled water The spending data is more mixed. On the question of personal concern, those with the more concern were less likely to have spent more than HK$20 per week on bottled water during the last month than those with less concern per cent of those with a great deal of concern spent more than HK$20 per week, compared with 22.8 per cent of those with some concern, 24.4 per cent of those with little concern and 25 per cent of those with no concern. However, on the questions of seriousness and government priority, those who rated the issue very serious and a top priority were actually more likely to spend over HK$20 per week than those who gave moderate answers. Those who were personally concerned spent slightly less money on bottled water, but those who deemed plastic waste a major issue for society or the government did not. Respondents who gave moderate answers on the questions of seriousness and personal concern were less likely than those who gave strong answers to say that they had spent HK$0 on bottled water a weekly basis in the past month, but a greater proportion of them reported spending HK$10 or less per cent of those who rated plastic waste as serious and 36.4 per who had some concern spent between HK$1-10 per week, compared with 27 per cent of those who rated plastic waste very serious and 34.4 per cent of those who had a great deal of concern. In other words, respondents with moderate levels of concern still bought bottled water, but spent small sums on it,

23 22 equivalent to 1-2 bottles per week. In sum, environmental attitudes have a weak and inconsistent relationship with bottled water consumption. Figure 29 (with table): Weekly spending on bottled water by views on government priority for plastic waste HK$51+ HK$41-50 HK$31-40 HK$21-30 HK$11-20 HK$1-10 HK$0 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 7.8% % 7.9% 2.6% 3.9% 0.4% 4.4% 5.0% 5.3% 10.0% 2.6% 11.8% 20.0% 15.8% 18.4% 17.6% 10.0% 31.6% 34.0% 36.0% 30.0% 22.2% 24.0% 25.0% 36.8% Top priority Medium priority Low/no priority Don't know Top priority Medium priority Low priority/ Not a problem HK$ % 6.8% 10.0% (12) (17) HK$ % 4.4% 5.0% (11) HK$ % 0.4% 0.0% (6) HK$ % 10.0% 20.0% (18) (25) HK$ % 18.4% 10.0% (27) (46) HK$ % 36.0% 30.0% (52) (90) (6) HK$0 22.2% 24.0% 25.0% (34) (60) (5) (153) (250) (20) 461 valid cases. Base = Bottled water buyers. Don t know for weekly spending excluded. Don t know 7.9% 5.3% 0.0% 2.6% 15.8% (6) 31.6% (12) 36.8% (14) (38)

24 23 Figure 30 (with table): Weekly spending on bottled water by concern about plastic waste % % HK$ % 20.3 HK$ % 20.0 HK$ % HK$ % HK$ % HK$ % HK$ % % Great deal Some Little None Don't know HK$51+ HK$41-50 HK$31-40 HK$21-30 HK$11-20 HK$1-10 HK$0 Great deal Some Little None Don t know 6.3% 7.0% 7.6% 7.1% 6.3% (16) (10) 3.1% 3.5% 4.6% 3.6% 3.1% (8) (6) 3.1% 1.3% 1.5% 0.0% 3.1% 7.8% 11.0% 10.7% 14.3% 7.8% (5) (25) (14) 20.3% 18.4% 13.7% 21.4% 20.3% (13) (42) (18) (6) 34.4% 36.4% 34.4% 25.5% 34.4% (22) (83) (45) (7) 25.0% 22.4% 27.5% 28.6% 25.0% (16) (51) (36) (8) (64) (228) (131) (28) (10) 461 valid cases. Base = Bottled water buyers. Don t know for weekly spending excluded Environmental attitudes and consumption of bottled beverages The roughly 300 respondents who self-identified as regular consumers of plastic bottled beverages (as opposed to beverages in other types of containers) were not much different in their views about the seriousness of plastic waste to other respondents. Similar to the general respondent pool (see Section 2), 32.3 per cent said the plastic waste problem was very serious, 55.1 per cent said it was serious, 7.2 said it was not so serious or not serious at all, and 5.3 per cent said don t know. However, within this group of respondents, their frequency of beverage purchase was related to people s perception of the seriousness of the plastic waste problem. A higher proportion of people who claimed the problem was not serious bought bottled beverages every day or several times per week. A plurality of those who felt the problem was serious bought beverages at a moderate frequency, from once a week to several times a month. Those who felt the problem was very serious were split between the extremes, with 32.7 per cent buying it daily to several times a week, 40.8 per cent buying it monthly, rarely or never, and just 26.5 per cent buying it moderately often.

25 24 Figure 31 (with table): Bottled beverage purchase frequency by views on seriousness of plastic waste problem Never Monthly, rarely Weekly to several times a month Daily to several times a week 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 2.0% 1.2% 0.0% 0.0% 38.8% 26.5% 32.7% 29.9% 31.8% 41.3% 27.5% 18.2% 50.0% 37.5% 37.5% 25.0% 0% Very serious Serious Not so serious/not serious at all Don't know Very serious Serious Not so serious/not serious at all Don t know Never 2.0% 1.2% 0.0% 0.0% Monthly or rarely 38.8% 29.9% 31.8% 37.5% (38) (50) (7) (6) Weekly to several 26.5% 41.3% 18.2% 37.5% times a month (26) (69) (6) Daily to several times 32.7% 27.5% 50.0% 25.0% a week (32) (46) (11) (98) (167) (22) (16) 303 valid cases. Base = Usual bottled beverage buyers. Don t know for frequency of purchase excluded. 3.4 Environmental attitudes and water dispenser usage Environmental attitudes also have no discernible relationship with whether or not respondents have used a public water dispenser within the last 6 months. Whatever their views were on plastic waste, roughly a quarter of respondents said that had used a water dispenser. Only those who replied don t know were less likely to have used a water dispenser, but this is largely due to demographic reasons since those who reply don t know are typically older and less educated than the average respondent (see Section 5); and older, less educated respondents are less likely to have used water dispensers (see Section 4). However, those who placed greater importance on plastic waste said that they were more willing to use public water dispensers, provided they were widely available and provided a quality of water similar to that of bottled water. About 50 per cent respondents who expressed high or moderate levels of concern, seriousness and government priority said that they were willing bring a refillable bottle and use public water dispensers, compared with roughly 35 per cent of those who had no concern about plastic waste, placed low or no government priority on it, or said it was not a serious problem.

26 25 The disparity between current water dispenser usage and willingness to use water dispensers can be explained by inadequate provision of water dispensers in terms of location and quality. These issues will be further examined in Section 4. Figure 32: Have you drunk water from any public water dispensers in the past six months? Yes 26.4% No 73.6% 1,003 valid cases. Don t know excluded. Table 6: Percentage of respondents who used water dispensers in the last 6 months or are willing to use water dispensers by views on plastic waste problem Seriousness Very serious Serious Not so serious/not serious at all Don t know Government priority Top Concern Medium Low/None Don t know Great deal Some Little None Don t know Respondents who used water dispensers in last 6 months Respondents who are willing to use water dispensers if standards of quality or availability were met Yes No Yes No 25.9% 74.1% 48.5% 51.5% (81) (232) (313) (149) (158) (307) 29.5% 70.5% 49.7% 50.3% (158) (377) (535) (263) (266) (529) 22.5% 77.5% 38.5% 61.5% (18) (62) (80) (30) (48) (78) 10.7% 89.3% 35.7% 64.3% (8) (67) (75) (25) (45) (70) 26.9% 73.1% 50.2% 49.8% (87) (236) (323) (161) (160) (321) 28.4% 71.6% 50.7% 49.3% (146) (368) (514) (256) (249) (505) 25.5% 74.5% 34.8% 65.2% (12) (35) (47) (16) (30) (46) 16.8% 83.2% 30.4% 69.6% (20) (99) (119) (14) (98) (112) 26.8% 73.2% 51.7% 48.3% (40) (109) (149) (77) (72) (149) 28.6% 71.4% 50.1% 49.9% (132) (330) (462) (228) (227) (455) 26.4% 73.6% 46.0% 54.0% (78) (217) (295) (132) (155) (287) 19.6% 80.4% 34.0% 66.0% (10) (41) (51) (17) (33) (50) 10.9% 89.1% 32.0% 68.0% (5) (41) (46) (13) (30) (43) 1,003 valid cases, Don t know for water dispenser usage excluded 984 valid cases, Don t know for willingness to use water dispensers excluded