Friends of the Earth wants the government to come up with rules to decide how consumers and retailers should split a proposed disposal and recycling fee for household electrical goods.
The group says such a move was vital to ensure charges were fair for the consumer because the scheme was really about the obligations of the producers of the goods.
But a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department said it was not practical to come up with a definitive 'sharing rate'. 'We are not aware of any precedents internationally,' he said.
He said it would be up to individual retailers to decide how much of the fee they would pass on to consumers.
The call came as the Advisory Council on the Environment supported the Environmental Protection Department's proposed e-waste charges for televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computer products.
The fee - to be collected at the point of sale - will fund the operation of a new recycling facility in Hong Kong. The government will pay HK$400 million to build it but it's expected to cost HK$220 million a year to run the plant and collect the waste.
Based on overseas experience, the fee could be between HK$100 and HK$250 per item. But the money collected under the proposal would go directly to government general revenue instead of a dedicated fund.