Households will get three years to 'ease into' proposed rubbish levy
First three years of proposed scheme to include an option to pay by building instead of by flat
Households will get up to three years to ease into a proposed scheme to levy waste-disposal fees on both the residential and commercial sectors.
Those that opt to pay by building, rather than by household, face less responsibility in cutting waste and will therefore see higher charges, which have yet to be specified in the Council for Sustainable Development's plan.
"There are more than 80,000 buildings in Hong Kong and it is impossible for everyone to change overnight. That is why we envisaged the need for a transitional period," council chairman Bernard Chan said.
"We also propose a higher fee for residents who choose to pay by volume of waste disposed by building, to encourage them to migrate to the household-based charging mode."
Chan's council officially endorsed the proposal yesterday and will submit it to the Environment Bureau next month.
Its endorsement marked the end of a year-long public consultation that involved property managers, green groups and other parties.
Residences that have property managers and get rid of their rubbish through government services account for more than 90 per cent of the city's households.
The government is moving towards levying volume-based fees on everyone in 2016, with designated prepaid bags to be used for waste disposal.
During the three-year adaptation period, housing estates can buy time to decide on their rubbish-collection arrangements while paying according to the volume of waste discarded per building.
But their fee, to be determined later, will be slightly higher and will increase with each year.
Residents of buildings without property management and New Territories villages now dump their rubbish at refuse collection points.
Under the scheme, they are required to buy designated bags. The collection points will be retrofitted to accept those bags only.
The few estates and businesses that hire private waste collectors are to pay a "gate fee" based on the weight of the waste.
Chan said that the proposed fees could be lowered if the city's total waste shrank down the road. The council would advise the government to review the charging scheme a year after its launch, he added.
But he was concerned lawmakers would fail to pass the proposal in time for its planned introduction in 2016. "I'm a bit worried, we don't have the luxury to wait another decade."
Friends of the Earth assistant environmental-affairs manager Frances Yeung Hoi-shan said a three-year transition was acceptable and that the quantity-based charging system was fair.
