Storm-hit Hong Kong snowed under by plastic pellets

A category 4 typhoon off the coast of Hong Kong caused a vessel to jettisoning 150 tons of plastic pellets. The resultant pollution could take months to clear up, according to reports in the local media.

China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec), which manufactured the pellets, told the Reuters news agency that they were not toxic, however, environmental lobby groups says the hundreds of millions of pellets could well pose a risk to marine life and the environment.

Hong Kong’s secretary for development, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, said that the government could have been better at informing the public but that the pellets posed no long-term risk.

The clean-up operation continues at 10 Hong Kong beaches.

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