Hong Kong - Hong Kong shoppers have paid more than 3.2 million Hong Kong dollars (400,000 US dollars) for plastic bags since a levy was introduced in July to cut the city's daily mountain of waste, the government said Thursday.

Around six million plastic bags were sold to shoppers at the price of 50 Hong Kong cents each (6 US cents) in the first three months of the compulsory levy scheme, according to the Environmental Protection Department.

The figure was calculated from quarterly reports submitted to the department by 21 of the 3,000 retailers collecting the levy.

However, the final figure is expected to higher as the deadline for the remaining retailers to file their quarterly reports approaches at the end of October.

Before the tax, Hong Kong people were using an average of about 1,200 plastic bags each a year, or about three plastic bags a day per person.

Around 30 million plastic bags a day were being thrown away in the densely populated city of 7 million, accounting for some 6 per cent of the 17,500 tons of rubbish sent to landfill sites every day.

Immediately following the levy's launch, plastic bag use dropped by 85 per cent while the number of people using their own bag grew by 56 per cent.

The money raised by the levy goes to the government. (dpa)