Editorial | Much more must be done in recycling

Hong Kong likes to portray itself as Asia’s world city, with well developed anti-pollution and waste recycling policies to protect the environment. Commendable as it seems, the latter involves little more than shipping away most of our recyclables for further processing elsewhere. This is better than nothing, even though it falls short of our claim as a responsible global citizen.

The industry has been feeling the strain ever since the mainland tightened controls over waste imports last year. It emerged that some Southeast Asian countries have become our backyard for disposal. As many as 280,000 tonnes of plastic waste worth HK$727 million (US$93 million) from the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain and Mexico were re-exported to countries such Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam last year. The volumes received by the three countries represent increases of 177 times, 75 times to 21 times from 2016 respectively, according to a study by a green group.

The surge has raised valid questions whether the countries have the capacity and know-how to handle a sharp rise in waste recycling materials, some of which are known for having toxic contaminants. Such materials not only have low recycling value, they may also damage the environment when handled improperly.

The city’s reliance on re-export underlines the flaws in our recycling policy. There has been criticism that the recycling industry only exists in name. More than 90 per cent of the municipal waste recovered is actually exported for recycling elsewhere. In 2017, only 8.5 per cent of the 50,000 tonnes of disposable plastic bottle waste was recovered, with the rest being sent to landfills.

The Basel Convention, which regulates the trade of hazardous waste and its disposal, will require the prior consent of importing countries for the export of mixed, unrecyclable and contaminated plastic waste starting from next year. This may further restrict the re-export of waste to our neighbouring countries. An overhaul of the recycling chain remains the priority. The new requirement by the convention should give the government another push. From stepping up education on responsible consumption to developing a fully fledged recycling industry, a lot more still needs to be done.