Chief Executive John Lee on Tuesday said a six-month "adaption period" following the start of a ban on various single-use plastics went smoothly.

The end of a grace period means violators can now face fines of up to HK$100,000.

Talking to reporters ahead of an Executive Council meeting, Lee said the aim is to bring about behavioural change rather than punish people.

"I am glad to see that there are good results in the catering sector, in the building management sector, in the hotel sector, which indicated that there has been a lot of disposable cutlery saved as a result of this plastic-free culture we want to build," he said.

Lee said the government needs to consider a range of factors before moving on to the next phase of the plastics ban which will cover takeaway items, among other things.

"We will, first of all, prepare society and the businesses, particularly when we decide as to how we will go to the next stage, i.e. whether there will be sufficient alternative products available in the market for society to move smoothly into the next stage, and, more importantly, affordable prices, because what we learned from the first phase is, despite the fact that we all subscribe to this plastic-free culture, it is an important change of behaviour," the CE said.

"We also want businesses to be able to go through the process in a smooth manner, and people will be paying an affordable price for all this change of behaviour."