Plastic Recycling Schemes On The Way: KS Wong

The Secretary for the Environment, Wong Kam-sing, said on Saturday the government plans to roll out a couple of measures to encourage plastic recycling, to prepare the city for waste charging.

The government’s municipal waste charging bill was introduced into the Legislative Council last year. It estimates that the proposal could be implemented by the end of 2020 at the earliest.

Wong said about a dozen reverse vending machines for plastic bottles will be set up around the city, and the government is now discussing where these machines should be placed.

These vending machines would pay out a sum to consumers who returned plastic bottles to them. In other cities, consumers are charged a deposit for drinks sold in plastic bottles and can get that deposit back when they recycle the bottle.

The environment minister also said a pilot scheme for a free waste plastics collection scheme would be launched in three districts. He said an open tender for the scheme is now being conducted for one of the districts.

Wong said the scheme would be extended to the other two districts after they have reviewed how it works.