Hong Kong  - A Hong Kong green group on Monday called for a levy on disposable cups and cutlery after revealing McDonald's had given away around 400 million such items during lunchtimes alone in the last three years.

Green Senses is demanding the government introduce a levy of 6 US cents on every item given to customers in a bid to force the fast-food chain to cut down on the number it uses.

The environmental group based its estimate on a survey which had tracked 50 of the McDonald's Hong Kong outlets since 2006.

It claimed the 210 outlets in Hong Kong had used more than 11 million cups, paper boxes and pieces of plastic cutlery within a two-hour period in one month.

This amounted to 400 million pieces over the three years of the survey - equating to almost 60 items for every man, woman and child in the city of 7 million.

The Green Sense project officer Sun Ho-yan said since the survey began in 2006, other fast-food outlets had shown willingness to reduce their use of disposable items with KFC replacing paper cups with washable plastic ones.

However McDonald's had failed to adopt any of the suggestions made by Green Sense, said Sun.

She feared the problem would increase as the chain opened more 24-hour outlets and expanded its delivery services.

A McDonald's spokeswoman denied it had been unwilling, telling local media that the chain had "continuously come up with viable green campaigns" and had adopted a 3R policy of reduce, reuse and recycle.

She said its waste volume had fallen by 80 per cent since it had replaced styrofoam boxes with paper ones. The chain now also recycles used oil. (dpa)