Letters | Will Hong Kong let its only carton recycler join the brain drain too?

Readers discuss why the government must act to retain talent and recycling technology, the global importance of English as a second language, and a glaring lack of bus shelters

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Mil Mill, Hong Kong’s only beverage carton recycling firm in Yuen Long, has the capacity to process 60 of the 67 tonnes of used beverage cartons the city produces daily. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Published: 2:30pm, 26 Sep 2022

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The likely closure of Mil Mill, Hong Kong’s first and only solar-powered pulp mill, will mean a drastic reduction in Hong Kong’s capacity to process and recycle paper waste. Receiving waste paper and drink cartons from close to 600 recycling points, including the Environmental Protection Department’s Green@Community recycling network, Mil Mill processes over 200,000 beverage cartons, or 2 to 3 tonnes, per day, helping reduce the city’s carbon footprint by more than 5,000 tonnes every month.

According to the Post, Mil Mill has the capacity to process 60 of the 67 tonnes of used beverage cartons Hong Kong produces daily.

But the implications reach further and wider. The loss of Mil Mill will also mean the loss of the technology and knowledge that can be passed on to accelerate innovations in more circular solutions, to achieve the government’s 2035 goal of resource circularity and 2050 goal of carbon neutrality. To shutter a company that has successfully induced behavioural change in recycling and garnered steadfast support among Hong Kong residents is a huge shame and a lost opportunity in creating a financially sustainable circular economy around waste.

At a time of an unprecedented brain drain, Hong Kong needs to do more than open up borders and ease quarantine to revive its status as an international hub for talent and innovation. It needs to showcase its knowledge and solutions for entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized enterprises and corporations facing various business challenges, so that they can scale up and contribute to the local economy, while leveraging the city’s development into a green finance hub.

The consequence of inaction is losing more talent and innovation, rendering Hong Kong less competitive regionally and internationally.