Garbage sits at the Syctom sorting centre in Paris, France, awaiting sorting before it can be recycled. With global annual waste likely to rise from the current 2.01 billion tonnes a year to around 3.4 billion tonnes a year in 2050, there is an urgent need to reduce waste at source. Photo: AFP
Opinion
Opinion
Outside In
More than a year after China’s ban on waste imports, the world is still learning to clean up after itself
- The loss of the world’s No 1 dumping ground has forced some to turn more to recycling and others to find more amenable waste importers. Everywhere, however, minds are being focused on the staggering amounts of rubbish we produce each year
Garbage sits at the Syctom sorting centre in Paris, France, awaiting sorting before it can be recycled. With global annual waste likely to rise from the current 2.01 billion tonnes a year to around 3.4 billion tonnes a year in 2050, there is an urgent need to reduce waste at source. Photo: AFP
Piles of waste paper sit in Tsuen Wan, organised for shipment to processing plants or landfills. Hong Kong is grappling with a recycling problem, brought on by changing mainland policies, limited resources and competition. Photo: Sam Tsang
Does Hong Kong face another ‘paper jam’ environmental crisis as recycling woes return?
- Low rates for collectors may mean they abandon their jobs, as streets pile up again with discarded cardboard
- Major plant in mainland China has announced it will cut what it pays to exporters
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Explainers
Piles of waste paper sit in Tsuen Wan, organised for shipment to processing plants or landfills. Hong Kong is grappling with a recycling problem, brought on by changing mainland policies, limited resources and competition. Photo: Sam Tsang