Hong Kong’s long-awaited plan to charge residents for waste delayed to next year

Government agrees that scheme, first floated in 2004, cannot be launched by end of year after waste collectors warn of overload
Bag will be offered in nine sizes, priced at 11 HK cents per litre, and residents will face HK$1,500 fine for using other ones

Hong Kong environmental issues

Ezra Cheung

Published: 10:50pm, 10 Jul 2023

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A scheme to charge Hong Kong residents for each bag of rubbish they throw away has been pushed back to next year, delaying yet again a plan first floated nearly 20 years ago to transform the city’s household waste management.

Charging would begin on April 1, instead of at the end of the year, the environment bureau told lawmakers on Monday, admitting more time was needed to work out the logistics of the scheme after waste collectors raised concerns over an expected surge in rubbish during the winter holidays.

“Some sectors, such as the cleansing service providers, have been appealing for postponing the implementation, in view of the expected large quantity of waste that will be disposed of around Christmas and Chinese New Year, as well as the manpower shortage during Chinese New Year,” the bureau said in a paper submitted to the Legislative Council.

“We therefore propose to implement municipal solid waste charging on 1 April 2024, which signifies a major milestone in waste management in Hong Kong.”

Only about 30 per cent of the 4.15 million tonnes of municipal solid waste the city handled in 2021 was recycled, with the rest sent to landfills. Photo: Felix Wong

An average three-person household is expected to pay HK$33 (US$4.20) a month for the government-approved bags, based on the assumption they produce 13 litres of rubbish daily.

But a number of residents will be spared the expense for the first six months of the scheme. Authorities will hand out 20 bags, sized at 15 litres, to 1.05 million families living in public flats, rural areas and residential blocks with no owners’ corporations.

While the Housing Authority will help distribute them to public flat tenants, the bureau has yet to finalise with the Home Affairs Department how the other families covered by the free bag scheme will receive them.

More refuse collection points would be established in rural areas, while large collection bins would be set up near the private housing blocks covered by the free bag scheme.

Bags will be offered in nine different sizes, priced at 11 HK cents per litre, and after six months residents will face a HK$1,500 fine for using ones not designated by the government. Large waste that cannot be put into the bags will require a special label costing HK$11.

“Frontline staff at relevant waste reception points will conduct visual screening as to whether the waste handed over to them has been properly wrapped in designated bags … and will reject any non-compliant waste,” the bureau said.

“For severe black spots with significant adverse impact to the community, ad hoc enforcement actions may be conducted even during the phasing-in period.”

The government will also provide a HK$10 monthly subsidy to each recipient of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance or Old Age Living Allowance.

Authorities are currently building a citywide network of supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, homeware stores and online platforms to make it easier to buy the bags.

The Environment and Ecology Bureau said authorities had received requests from 19 retail chains and online retailers to sell the bags and labels, covering 2,000 outlets and 11 digital platforms.

In its Waste Blueprint for Hong Kong 2035, published in 2021, the government laid out plans to gradually reduce the per capita disposal rate by as much as 45 per cent and increase the recycling rate to about 55 per cent.

Only about 30 per cent of the 4.15 million tonnes of municipal solid waste the city handled in 2021 was recycled, with the rest sent to landfills.

Taipei has been charging for municipal waste since 2000, and Seoul since 1995. Both have seen at least 30 per cent reductions in waste.

The idea of introducing a garbage levy in Hong Kong was first raised in 2004, with the government elaborating on how it would treat waste over the following decade.

The administration of then chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen proposed using economic incentives to encourage residents to recycle more and dispose of less.

The idea of charging for disposal was entertained by the administrations that followed. A bill was drafted in 2018 and passed by lawmakers in 2021, but authorities were given 18 months to prepare for the switch.

The scheme was to take effect at the end of this year, but last week, representatives of the waste-collecting sector warned the city would throw out more rubbish over the winter holiday than they could handle.

The Environmental Services Contractors Alliance, which represents seven business groups and about 200 cleaning service companies, called the postponement good news for the industry.

“It is ideal timing for the industry to learn a new waste management paradigm when the workforce is the most abundant,” alliance spokesman Raymond Yau Pui-lam said. “Garbage volume peaks from October to March, but reaches its trough between April and June.”

He also called on authorities to hold more workshops so the industry could better understand the new system.

But Beatrice Siu Wing-yin, a senior public affairs officer at environmental group Greeners Action, expressed disappointment over the delay.

“We have been discussing the garbage levy for more than a decade,” she said. “The average daily waste disposal volume in Hong Kong has reached 11,300 tonnes. If authorities continue to drag on, the daily disposal amount will continue to pile up.”