Hong Kong pilot scheme for ‘smart’ food waste bins may cover smaller private estates from June: official
- Environmental Protection Department says pilot scheme may soon be extended to private estates with fewer than 1,000 households
- Legislators have called for speedier installation of collection bins amid reports of residents from private estates disposing of food scraps at public housing facilities
A Hong Kong pilot scheme offering “smart” food waste collection bins may be expanded to smaller private housing estates as soon as June, a senior official has said, as lawmakers called for speedier citywide installation efforts.
Director of Environmental Protection Samuel Chui Ho-kwong told lawmakers on the same day that private estates with fewer than 1,000 households could have the option to apply for the special bins in a few months.
“We hope that this can be done in the middle of the year, around June,” Chui said.
The Environmental Protection Department pledged on Tuesday that it would complete the installation of more than 700 smart food waste recycling bins at all 213 public housing estates by August.
The pilot scheme currently accepts applications from private estates consisting of more than 1,000 households. About 40 out of more than 150 such requests have been approved since the initiative’s launch last year.