Hong Kong's three landfills will be full by the early 2010s. But we can help prolong their life by reducing and recycling waste. In order to do this, however, you have to separate your rubbish.
The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has been promoting recycling since the 1990s. Thanks to their efforts, most of us know the colour of the recycling bin we should use for different materials: blue for paper, brown for plastic and yellow for metal.
There are around 28,000 sets of recycling bins placed in public estates, parks, libraries and other public areas in Hong Kong.
'It's a great idea to place recycling bins in public areas. However, there are too few of them,' says Michelle Au Wing-tsz from green group Friends of the Earth.
'When people finish a can of Coke on the street, how many of them bother to hold onto it long enough to find a yellow bin? They just simply throw it in a rubbish bin,' she says.
'Recycling is much more successful in places like Japan, Taiwan and Europe than in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government hasn't created corresponding laws or incentives to support recycling.