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Why Hong Kong’s war on waste must go beyond ‘polluter pays’ to the art of persuasion
Madan Pillutla says while Hong Kong will start charging for waste next year, social nudges using behavioural sciences could prove more effective in inspiring good behaviour on rubbish
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Christmas and the New Year are always a time of excess. Inevitably, the quantities of discarded goods and materials balloon, as drink and food containers are discarded and reams of wrapping paper wind up in rubbish bins.
Hong Kong’s tendency to generate more trash during the festive season is matched by the declining capacity of its landfills. Environmental Protection Department statistics reveal as much as 15,332 tonnes of solid waste was disposed of daily at landfills in 2016, an increase of 1.5 per cent from the previous year. The disposal rate of municipal solid waste was 1.41kg per person every day, the highest since 1998.
It seems that a long-running campaign encouraging people to “reduce, reuse and recycle” has not been entirely effective. Only 1.91 million tonnes of municipal solid waste recyclables were recovered, a 5.9 per cent drop from 2015.
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Hong Kong will introduce municipal solid waste charging in 2019. It has been pointed out that the government has so far only seriously considered punitive charges, an approach which has been widely criticised.
Hong Kong is choking on waste
Waste disposal charge will cost a typical Hong Kong family HK$51 a month
Do punitive measures such as “polluter pays” really change behaviour? Punishing with fines could encourage people to duck responsibility and to pursue illegal means of rubbish disposal, such as fly-tipping. Behavioural science may offer more effective ways to bring about change, with initiatives that should drive people to produce less waste and be more thoughtful about its disposal.
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