Greenpeace urges more regulation on packaging to help Hong Kong households cut cost ahead of waste-charging scheme
- Excess packaging by firms will account for over 50 per cent of the potential cost incurred by some households, Greenpeace says
- Group calls for the scheme to proceed as scheduled despite its concerns, saying waste charging is the ‘engine for reducing waste at the source’
Greenpeace is urging the Hong Kong government to do more to regulate packaging ahead of a controversial waste-charging scheme, after finding that excess wrapping will account for more than 50 per cent of potential costs incurred by some households.
The green group said on Thursday that without the necessary regulation in place, residents would be left footing the bill for excessive packaging produced by companies, although the group still called for the scheme to proceed as scheduled.
“They have to regulate the producers,” Greenpeace campaigner Leanne Tam Wing-lam said. “If [residents] do not have a choice when they buy things … then it will be unfair for them because they will have to pay for those useless packaging.”
The waste-charging scheme, which is scheduled to start on August 1, will require households to pay for the rubbish they produce at a rate of 11 cents per litre.
Residents must buy designated rubbish bags, ranging in size from 3 litres to 100 litres, before disposal.
In March, Greenpeace collected the waste generated by 45 Hong Kong households ranging in size from one to five people.