HK Has Thrown Out Two Billion Masks: Green Group

Disposable masks may have helped limit the spread of Covid-19 in Hong Kong this year, but a green group says the environment is having to pay a heavy price.

Greeners Action said on Thursday that it estimates that two billion disposable masks have been thrown out in the SAR since the pandemic began.

It said a survey of more than 1,100 people it recently conducted found that only 10 percent of respondents use reusable masks.

The group said more than 80 percent of the respondents said they believe disposable masks provide better protection than reusable ones and are more hygienic.

But Stanley Ho from the group told RTHK's Natale Ching that this isn't the case.

“If you use a disposable mask for a whole day, and the mask gets wet, it is also not very hygienic,” Ho said, adding that reusable masks can be washed without lowering their filtration efficiency.

Greeners Action said the government has not provided the public with clear guidelines on reusable masks. It also urged the authorities to look at practice overseas, saying the masks discarded in Hong Kong could be recycled