- Convenience store chain selling set of Disney plastic bottles, one filled with water and a non-reusable one holding cartoon character plushy
- Green group calls it ‘tip of the iceberg’ for city’s tendency to over-package goods
A new Disney product puts a plush toy in water bottles. Photo: Martin ChanA new Disney product sold in Hong Kong’s biggest convenience store chain features a stuffed toy inside a non-reusable plastic bottle that critics say goes against the entertainment giant’s own green pledges.
Disney has pledged on its website to design packaging for reuse, recycling or composting and use plastic containing at least 30 per cent reprocessed content or less harmful materials.
The product being sold throughout the city is a set of two plastic bottles. One is a 530ml (17.9 fluid ounce) bottle filled with mineral water, while the other contains a plush toy. The set is labelled with a confirmation that it is “authentic licensed merchandise from Disney”.
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But the packaging does not say how much of the material used was from recycled items. It also does not indicate the type of plastic used to produce the bottle and the base of the toy.
The bottles were manufactured by local company Transform Water. A label that reads “Disney 100” is affixed to the product, indicating it was specially made to celebrate the company’s centennial anniversary. Another message on the product reminds consumers to recycle the bottles after use.
Well-known cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Elsa from Frozen and Sulley from Monsters, Inc., are also shown on the packaging.
Greenpeace campaigner Leanne Tam Wing-lam said the product was an extreme example of a tendency to over-package goods in Hong Kong.
“This is only the tip of the iceberg. When you go to supermarkets, convenience stores and department stores, there are more,” she said.
“It makes people wonder if those big companies are really sticking to the environmental policies they have announced and executing them duly, or whether they are just a sales gimmick, which we call greenwashing.”
A check by the SCMP on Thursday found that two sets of the product, containing a total of four bottles, were available at a 7-Eleven in Tai Wai for HK$118.
The bottom of the bottle that contains the stuffed toy is removable, making it impossible to be reused.
A test by the SCMP found the detachable bottom was unable to contain water without leaking.
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Convenience store chain 7-Eleven, which operates about 1,000 stores in Hong Kong under the management of DFI Retail Group, has also pledged to reduce energy consumption and cut waste locally. Measures include installing sliding doors for its open-air display coolers, donating surplus food and setting up recycling bins in some of its stores.
Disney and DFI Retail Group have not responded to inquiries sent last Thursday by the Post.
The SCMP has also contacted Transform Water for comment.