Govt Sets Out Plan To Ditch Reliance On Landfills

The SAR government on Monday unveiled a new plan for waste reduction – setting a target to slash the amount of rubbish thrown out per person by 40 to 45 percent before 2035.

As part of efforts to cut Hong Kong's reliance on landfills, the administration also hopes to boost the recovery rate for waste to about 55 percent, through the long-planned household rubbish charging scheme and the development of new green facilities.

The blueprint sets out moves to consult the public on whether the use of disposable plastic tableware should be regulated, and whether producers of plastic drinks bottles should be charged under the "polluter pays" concept.

"Assuming that aforementioned waste-to-energy infrastructure with adequate treatment capacity can be in place by around 2035, we will no longer need to rely on landfills for direct disposal of our municipal solid waste," the government said.

Environment Secretary Wong Kam-sing said it is important for the territory to bring in the household waste charging scheme that was first suggested more than 15 years ago.

Last year, the bill was effectively dumped by legislators, before they later made a U-turn and set up a new bills committee to look at the proposal.

Wong said he is still in talks with lawmakers to garner their support for the scheme, and he hopes it can be introduced soon to help achieve the blueprint's target.

"Municipal solid waste (MSW) charging is a very key measure to drive behavioural change in Hong Kong," he said.

"Our wish, as mentioned in the latest Policy Address, is to ask the current Legco to consider the MSW charging bill as soon as possible and we hope that if it could be passed within the current term, that would help Hong Kong to get closer to the target."

Edwin Lau, the founder and executive director of Green Earth said he hoped the bill will be approved by Legco this year.

Lau said if the bill does pass and is coupled with a move to charge producers over their packaging, then the targets laid out in the blueprint would be possible to achieve.