The View | China is waging war on waste and Hong Kong needs to think bigger about how to manage its rubbish

A major item on the agenda for the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28-29 will be cutting plastic waste in the ocean. Japan, as host country, will present a plan to world leaders, including the presidents of China and the United States. 

This is the right issue to push at the highest political level. Countries need to work hard to deal with waste domestically, and to cooperate internationally. Rising water temperatures caused by climate change, coupled with untreated waste water and plastic pollution, are damaging marine biodiversity and coastal areas. Urgent and concerted action is needed now, otherwise it will become more difficult to reverse the degradation with every passing year.

China is already waging war on waste. In July 2017, it announced that it would ban imports of some paper and plastic waste, with effect from January 2018. It has plenty of its own waste to handle; besides, much of the recyclable material imported for processing was low-quality or mixed with non-recyclable material.

In signalling that it would no longer be the largest dumping ground for rich countries’ rubbish, China is forcing the world to improve waste management. Developed countries might have to clean up after themselves, as developing economies in Asia adopt or consider the Chinese approach to imported waste.

Last December, the State Council issued guidelines for cities introducing zero-waste practices. Zero waste doesn’t mean that no waste is generated; instead, in the case of China, waste is meant to be fully utilised through advanced urban management that involves recovery, reusing, recycling and treatment.