Can Hong Kong now expect a bolder push to reduce waste under Carrie Lam’s government?
Edwin Lau says while we’ve seen improvements in our air and water quality, the city is grappling with a growing waste problem that needs some of the innovative solutions Lam has promised
Lam has pledged that she and her principal officials will build a better Hong Kong by being “innovative”, “interactive” and “collaborative”. She seems well aware of the weaknesses of the last administration.
Watch: Carrie Lam answers lawmakers’ questions
So we should expect Wong Kam-sing, whom Lam reappointed as secretary for the environment, to make good on her pledge. The public needs to hear from him what innovative measures he is proposing to address our critical environmental problems.
Twenty years after the handover, some environmental problems in Hong Kong, such as air and water pollution, have seen improvements. But others have become worse.
The blueprint has set targets of 1kg by this year, and 0.8kg by 2022 – I doubt we’ll meet these if the government does not change its mindset and adopt some innovative policies.
Meanwhile, the recycling rate of our municipal solid waste climbed from 33 per cent in 1997 to 52 per cent in 2010, only to fall back to 35 per cent in 2015. So there has been virtually no improvement.