Hong Kong’s waste-charging scheme: a timeline of 2 decades of deliberations and delays
- First proposed in 2004, the pay-as-you-throw scheme took years of preparation and public consultation before legislature passed the bill in 2021
- Post charts the journey of the controversial waste-charging scheme from its inception to its failure to launch
First proposed by authorities in 2004, the pay-as-you-throw scheme took years of preparation and public consultation before the legislature passed the bill in 2021.
However, the scheme was met with backlash from politicians, residents and stakeholders from the recycling business.
That prompted the government to push it back twice, from last December to April, then to August 1, before ultimately putting it on hold.
The Post chronicles the scheme’s development over the years.
Introduction: 2005-06
In December 2005, the then Environment, Transport and Works Bureau set out a policy framework for the management of municipal solid waste for the next nine years, with the idea of charging residents over non-recyclable garbage.
The bureau expected to submit the Waste Disposal (Charging for Municipal Solid Waste) (Amendment) Bill to lawmakers in 2007. The government at that time also proposed that plastic shopping bags were among the few items subject to charging.
The Environmental Protection Department, in 2006, launched a trial run covering 20 estates of public and private residential housing, to “examine the arrangements for the distribution of bags, waste collection and auditing, as well as other complementary measures”.
The three-colour recycling bins separating paper, aluminium cans, and plastic bottles were subsequently set up in selected estates and gradually expanded to cover more than 1,000 estates and villages.
Public consultation: 2012-18
Public consultation of the scheme began in January 2012 after the department publicly released documents to summarise the trial results of the management of solid waste as well as an analysis of what challenges Hong Kong faced in its waste collection logistics.
“Our waste network has not been operated in a way that facilitated the collection of a quantity-based waste charging,” it wrote in the 2012 document.
At that time, the document also pointed out that “community consensus” on supporting the scheme was paramount, given that it was difficult to trace waste to individuals or households.
In the following six years, the government held numerous rounds of public consultations.
Formation of the bill committee: 2018
In November 2018, a 29-strong committee was founded and the bill was published in the gazette and ready for its first and second reading.
The committee foresaw that the implementation would be “very challenging” and, therefore, a preparatory period of 12 to 18 months should be provided, according to the legislative document jointly written by the Environment Bureau and the Environmental Protection Department.
“We estimate that [the scheme] could be implemented by the end of 2020 at the earliest,” they wrote.
Bill suspension: 2020
After two years of debate, the committee voted to “discontinue its scrutiny work” on the bill in June 2020 after a seven to four vote by members in attendance.
The former secretary for the environment said it was “unfortunate” that the bill had to be postponed due to “various social events that affected the operation of the government and the Legislative Council”.
From resumption to passage: 2021
Legco resumed a second reading in August 2021 and proceeded to the third reading with almost unanimous support for the bill in the same month.
A preparation period of 18 months was then kick-started, with the scheme expected to be implemented by the end of last year.
Scheme runs into delays, twice: 2023-24
The long-awaited scheme was initially set to launch in December 2023, but Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan told lawmakers last July that the government had delayed it to April 1, 2024, stressing the date was “definite” and would “not be extended”.
But the scheme was met with a backlash from many segments of society from politicians, residents and rubbish collectors, as confusion over the use and charges of the designated plastic bags was left unresolved.
The government agreed to launch another trial run on April 1 at 14 sites, to gauge public acceptance of the bags, while setting August 1 as the final launch date.
Suspension: from August 1, 2024
A government document submitted to the legislature in May showed the reception for the scheme “varied significantly”, with some places reporting that only 20 per cent of residents were using the bags.
On Monday, Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing declared the scheme would be suspended from August 1 because most residents were opposed to a citywide roll-out on that date and the implementation would put great pressure on businesses, especially the catering sector.
