Trial uncaps bottle collection potential

A trial scheme subsidising the recycling of plastic bottles has increased collections by 150 per cent.

In the first subsidised scheme of its kind, two contractors have been hired to collect bottles at public and private housing estates for three months.

The scheme was implemented after a two-year government refuse recycling campaign at 700 housing estates collected only low volumes of plastic bottles. Bottles collected from June to December last year amounted to 470 tonnes, compared with the 40,279 tonnes of waste paper and 889 tonnes of aluminum cans over the same period.

Since the scheme started on April 1, 4.2 tonnes of plastic bottles from 120 housing estates have been collected a day - an increase of 150 per cent over the average collected during similar periods in the past, according to the Environmental Protection Department.

The department's principal environmental officer, Lawrence Wong Tung-kong, said subsidies were needed because bottles had a low value compared with waste paper and aluminium cans. Each contractor was paid less than $100,000 under the scheme.

'We hope recycling plastic bottles can become commercially feasible as public awareness increases,' he said.