Hong Kong to press ahead with plan to double plastic bag levy to HK$1, waste charging scheme set to come into force next year
- Move is part of Waste Blueprint for Hong Kong 2035, under which the administration hopes to promote a ‘plastic-free’ culture
- Legco’s environmental affairs panel will discuss the plan at meeting next week
Hong Kong’s environmental authorities will press ahead with a proposal to double the city’s plastic bag levy to HK$1 (13 US cents) following a 13-year price freeze, with the bill to be tabled for lawmakers’ deliberation in the second quarter.
The government also gave a more concrete time frame for implementing a long-touted waste charging scheme, which is expected to come into force in the second half of next year.
The Environment Bureau’s plan, revealed in a paper submitted to the Legislative Council, followed waste reduction recommendations from the Council for Sustainable Development last week. Among these, the bureau was advised to increase the levy for plastic shopping bags from 50 HK cents to HK$1 or HK$2.
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Legco’s environmental affairs panel will discuss the plan at a meeting on Monday.
The move is part of the Waste Blueprint for Hong Kong 2035, under which the administration hopes to promote a “plastic-free” culture amid ever-growing mountains of rubbish.
“The medium-term goal [of the blueprint] is to gradually reduce the per capita municipal solid waste disposal rate by 40 to 45 per cent,” the bureau said in the paper.
“The long-term goal is to develop adequate waste-to-energy facilities, so as to move away from the reliance on landfills … and achieve ‘Zero Landfill’ in around 2035.”