On Friday, local resident Moran Zukerman found 53 used medical syringes within an hour on Sam Pak Wan Beach in Discovery Bay.
Zukerman, an Israeli man who’s lived in Hong Kong for 15 years but only moved to Discovery Bay recently, told Coconuts HK that he picks up trash from local beaches at least four times a week as he believes “it’s dangerous” and “care[s] about others’ wellbeing”.
He says he usually finds up to 10 syringes a day, and that his previous record for the most collected in a day is around 20.
One of the syringes Zukerman has found on Discovery Bay beaches. Photo: Moran Zukerman
He claims that medical waste has been known to wash up on Hong Kong beaches as early as 23 years ago, pointing to a 1993 SCMP about syringes found in Shek O, and says that the government has largely failed to do anything about it.
In Zukerman’s view, the 53 syringes he found on Friday signify that the situation is getting worse.
After Zukerman posted results of his Friday clean-up to a Hong Kong marine pollution concern group on Facebook, other users expressed their concern about how the medical waste may present a health hazard to beachgoers. They believed it may also affect wildlife, including locally caught seafood.
Coconuts HK has reached out to several Hong Kong departments for comment. The Enviromental Protection Department said they would send staff to assess the situation on-site and reply this week.
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