The Legislative Council on Wednesday passed a bill to double the levy for plastic bags to HK$1 from December 31.

Authorities will also scrap the existing levy exemption for frozen food and food items fully wrapped in non-airtight packaging.

The exemption for unpackaged takeaway food will remain, but will be limited to one plastic bag for each order.

The bill was supported by 78 lawmakers, while two voted against and one abstained.

The lifting of exemptions for chilled or frozen food, meanwhile, was backed by all legislators.

Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said authorities had taken into account factors such as the public's acceptance and consumers' shopping habits when making the decision.

Tse said he believes it is the right time to raise the levy, noting that the current 50-cent levy had already been in place for a decade. He added that the number of plastic bags that have been disposed of has gone up in recent years.

Some lawmakers and green groups had called for the levy to go up to HK$2.

However, an amendment proposed by lawmaker Tony Tse to raise the levy to that amount was rejected.