The survey of Asia-Pacific countries and cities, compiled by consumer research group ValueChampion, praises Hong Kong’s public transport and water safety, but it was the worst offender for generating waste.

Initiatives such as ‘Waste-no-mall’ offer greater recycling choices and let users see what happens to their recycled waste. The rate of waste recovered for recycling stands at 32 per cent of the total collected, a 10-year low for Hong Kong.

GreenPrice opened its first shop in Sham Shui Po in late 2016 to give the poor a helping hand and stop good food going to waste

The environment minister has been told to come up with a better offer if he wants to stand a chance of winning over local politicians resisting a landfill extension plan in Tuen Mun.

Tuen Mun district councillors are refusing to budge on objections to expanding the city's biggest landfill, despite the government's efforts to offer concessions.

Nearly half of Shenzhen's lawmakers have signed a petition against Hong Kong's proposed Tuen Mun landfill expansion - an unprecedented protest that could strain cross-border ties.

The government hoped to reapply for funding to expand the city's three landfills early next year, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said yesterday after visiting two villages close to the Tuen Mun facility.

The protests over the proposed landfill expansions have further highlighted the need for an independent review of Hong Kong's waste management plan.

The Environmental Protection Department has commissioned a study into the generation, recycling and disposal of plastic waste, trying to probe irregularities in the rate of waste recycling.

The plan to expand the landfill in Tseung Kwan O is to be resubmitted to the Legislative Council, along with expansion proposals for landfills in Tuen Mun and Ta Kwu Ling, after the legislature's summer recess, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said yesterday.

Discussion of what officials say are urgently needed extensions to two of Hong Kong's landfills ended abruptly yesterday when legislators decided to defer scrutiny of them. They did so to give environment officials time to reconsider their plans and consult affected communities.

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has failed to persuade the Tuen Mun District Council to support a landfill extension study, despite her renewed commitment to previously pledged sweeteners.

Rural strongman Lau Wong-fat has renewed his call for the administration to ditch its landfill extension plans for the sake of harmony within the legislature. Earlier in the day, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor met the Tuen Mun District Council to rally support for a study into expanding a landfill in the area.

Yuen Long villager To Sik-yu says his nose can detect four distinct types of odour coming from the rubbish tip opposite his home. The 42-year-old, whose home in Ha Pak Nai village is across the river from the Tuen Mun landfill, said he could differentiate the odours of fresh rubbish, pig waste, sludge and even the bottom layers of the landfill

Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will attend a Tuen Mun District Council meeting tomorrow to rally support for the government's unpopular plan to expand a landfill in the area.

Last week, lawmakers of a works subcommittee voted in favour of expanding the near-saturated landfills in Tuen Mun and Ta Kwu Ling, clearing the first hurdle for a final vote on the funding of feasibility studies.

New Territories leader and lawmaker Lau Wong-fat said yesterday he would do all he could to block the extension of the Tuen Mun tip, by far the bigger of two plans remaining since the government withdrew a proposal for the Tseung Kwan O dump.