Hong Kong NGO taking action to keep city’s plastic waste under control by reaching areas recycling firms ignore

An NGO’s bid to collect waste plastic from industrial and commercial buildings could keep up to 40 tonnes of the material out of Hong Kong’s strained landfills and set an example for more efficient government-run recycling schemes.

The HK$7.1 million (US$916,000) trial scheme by Greeners Action is the first of its kind backed by the government’s recycling fund to target the city’s commercial buildings, which house businesses generating large amounts of plastic waste but are often overlooked by plastic collectors and other schemes.

“Many local plastic recyclers refuse to drive out to the individual buildings because there is not enough volume to justify the cost of collection, and instead prefer recycling imported waste,” said Leo Wong Ka-chi, the NGO’s project manager. “Meanwhile, the government’s focus is on household recycling, so this is where we hope to fill the gap.”

The city’s commercial and industrial waste disposal rate has steadily risen over the years, growing from 3,364 tonnes per day in 2014, to 4,617 tonnes daily in 2018, of which 23.3 per cent was plastic, according to government data. Combined with domestic waste, only 4 per cent of the city’s waste plastic was recycled in 2018.

Greeners Action has set up bins at 27 industrial and commercial buildings so far, focusing on five types of plastic waste – cling wrap and bubble wrap, packing foam, clear plastic bags, plastic bottles, courier envelopes and single-use plastic food containers.