Ronald Ling Pak-ki, 18, SKH Bishop Mok Sau Tseng Secondary School
Sustainable development has become the number one goal in the world. Recycling should be common now, but for several reasons it has not become popular in Hong Kong.
Landfill sites will be saturated in a few years. Different schemes have been carried out to promote recycling. Households, offices and schools are encouraged to recycle waste. Trash should be separated into paper, plastics and metals. There are also programmes for recycling rechargeable batteries and computers.
Some households and offices refuse to recycle because they insist that waste materials are hard to classify. This is only an excuse. Hong Kong people make decisions only based on self-interest. They do not care about the world. They regard the pollution problem as external and simply ignore it.
According to the 'polluter pays principle' endorsed by United Nations members, fines or fees should be charged. Polluters should be required to pay the cost of services if they do not recycle.
Hopefully, with the help of education and promotion, recycling will become an everyday job for all of us.