Debate heats up on whether Hong Kong should press ahead with citywide waste-charging scheme in August

Debate is heating up in political circles on whether Hong Kong should press ahead with a long-delayed waste-charging scheme in August, while the city leader has reiterated that officials are taking a wait-and-see approach based on a trial run. Increasingly intense discussion on the scheme among politicians and former officials followed the government rolling out a test run on April 1 at 14 locations, including restaurants, shopping centres, and public and private housing estates. But the response from participants has been lukewarm, with the take-up rate at one location as low as 20 per cent over the past week. Some also complained about the poor design of bags and the lack of recycling facilities in the community. Top officials have avoided giving a firm answer on the scheme’s future after the trial run, while some political heavyweights have called for a complete rethink. Former environment minister Wong Kam-sing urged the public to support the scheme on Tuesday. “I urge everyone to cherish this policy that has been developed and supported by successive administrations and many residents, and to help Hong Kong reduce waste and carbon emissions as soon as possible,” said Wong, who had responsibility for the scheme in the previous administration. Wong also said the political sector should adopt a long-term view of supporting environmental protection. He said society should not sacrifice the environment despite an underperforming economy, adding that the city could further develop its green industry. Hong Kong trial run for waste-charging scheme has take-up rate as low as 20% Christine Loh Kung-wai, a former environment undersecretary who worked with Wong between 2012 and 2017, said the scheme should not be dropped and expressed surprise at the many negative comments. She said the public should give the trial more time as it had only been running for a week and waste charging for the whole city would be complex. “Just because you identify a problem, it doesn’t mean you can’t solve it … if you find some issues that [aren’t] working so well, the focus should be on working out how to solve those, rather than chuck the whole scheme away,” she said. “I think if Hong Kong were to drop it [because] some people think it’s too difficult, it would give Hong Kong a really bad name [that] we can’t even organise ourselves with sufficient determination to solve a problem that other cities are doing.” She also dismissed remarks by political heavyweight Lo Man-tuen, who said the scheme was raised by the “radical opposition camp”, noting that a previous administration initiated the proposal back in 2005. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu stressed on Tuesday that the government had a “very clear” position on the scheme, saying authorities needed to review implementation details including the time needed. “It is already the law of Hong Kong. So the government has to think of a proper way to implement it. To take it forward, we have launched a testing scheme,” Lee said. “We are serious about doing this test to ensure that we have collected sufficient data to let us decide how to take it forward.” Hong Kong to launch trial run of waste charging; participants unclear about rules Authorities would consider factors including the participation rate of the trial scheme and provision of supporting facilities before deciding in May or June, he added. “We need to take a look at the execution process, our pace, the actual implementation time, and the details,” Lee said. Government officials also told district councillors on Tuesday that staff would start collecting opinions next week from participating households, cleaners, property management companies and business operators. The legislature approved the waste-charging bill back in 2021. The scheme, which requires residents to buy designated plastic disposal bags, was postponed twice since December last year after the poor public response. Lo, a former vice-chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, had on Monday called for the government to consider postponing or axing the scheme entirely. He said the “radical opposition camp” raised the initiative and it was formulated under a “high pressure” environment where green issues were politicised. Some politicians also expressed reservations about the scheme being implemented citywide on August 1, including lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, the city’s largest political party. “I worry that it will cause chaos in August as I believe some residents have yet to get hold of the situation,” Lee told a radio show on Tuesday. “Unless there are more recycling facilities, residents will be forced to pay more under the waste-charging scheme in disguise.” She said the scheme would also add a financial burden on small to medium-sized firms which were already suffering in the current economy. Jonathan Wong Woon-chung, an emeritus biology professor at Baptist University, accused Lo of not understanding the global trend of waste management and the idea of a circular economy that advocated recycling. “He is viewing things from a political perspective. We should not drag politics into it,” Wong told another radio show. He noted that political disputes had dragged discussions on for 15 years and Hong Kong was slow in progressing with waste management compared with foreign countries. Wong also said the trial served as an opportunity for the government to smoothen the citywide implementation of waste charging in the future and that it should not consider postponing the scheme. “The government should lay out a clearer guideline on waste disposal to reassure the public and build their confidence in fulfilling the legal requirement,” he said.