Construction waste piles up at a demolition site in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok district in May 2019. To reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills, Hong Kong should ban construction waste from landfills and require it to be reused in local projects. Photo: Edmond So Construction waste piles up at a demolition site in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok district in May 2019. To reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills, Hong Kong should ban construction waste from landfills and require it to be reused in local projects. Photo: Edmond So
Construction waste piles up at a demolition site in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok district in May 2019. To reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills, Hong Kong should ban construction waste from landfills and require it to be reused in local projects. Photo: Edmond So
Edwin Lau
Opinion

Opinion

Edwin Lau

Hong Kong’s ‘aggressive’ new waste reduction plan is anything but, with its vague timeline and lower targets

  • Not only does the blueprint lack a timeline that can be tracked, but also buried under its apparently laudable goal of a 40-45 per cent reduction in waste is the fact that the new targets are actually less ambitious than the previous ones

Edwin Lau
Edwin Lau

Updated: 6:51am, 21 Feb, 2021

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Construction waste piles up at a demolition site in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok district in May 2019. To reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills, Hong Kong should ban construction waste from landfills and require it to be reused in local projects. Photo: Edmond So Construction waste piles up at a demolition site in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok district in May 2019. To reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills, Hong Kong should ban construction waste from landfills and require it to be reused in local projects. Photo: Edmond So
Construction waste piles up at a demolition site in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok district in May 2019. To reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills, Hong Kong should ban construction waste from landfills and require it to be reused in local projects. Photo: Edmond So
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Edwin Lau

Edwin Lau

Edwin Lau Che-feng is founder and executive director of The Green Earth. Mr Lau has been actively engaged in environmental protection work since the late 1980s and he founded The Green Earth in early 2016. He places great concern on pressing environmental issues related to waste management, air pollution, climate change and energy conservation. He initiated the first waste paper recycling programme in schools, and introduced the first set of three-colour waste recycling bins in a public housing estate in Hong Kong. In 2009, Mr Lau was awarded the Medal of Honour by the Hong Kong SAR government in recognition of his long-term contribution to the cause of environmental protection and education.