Green options need subsidies or they will not flourish, says retired waste manager
Recycling industries need more assistance and subsidies or they will never take off, the retired chief of the city's last incinerator has told the government.
There had been too much emphasis on waste disposal at the expense of recycling and the problem could have been less daunting if recycling efforts had been launched a decade ago.
His call came after one of the city's only two waste paper recyclers said last week it would close next year, citing a lack of government support and high fuel costs.
The incinerator chief - who declined to be named and spent nearly 16 years working at the municipal solid waste incinerator in Kwai Chung - moved overseas for a cleaner environment after leaving what he described as 'the most hated post' in the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department.
He said the old incinerator had done little to separate waste, except useful metals that could be recovered using giant magnets.
