After waste-charging scheme is postponed, Hong Kong officials urged to clean up act, change tactics and get anxious public on board
- Pay-as-you-throw scheme is now set to begin on August 1 rather than April 1 following surprise postponement
- Cleaning firm owner says the message on the use of waste-disposal labels is ‘misleading’
Hong Kong authorities have been urged to use the four extra months before the city’s postponed waste-charging scheme comes into effect to convince an anxious public about its benefits, rather than drilling down on the details.
The pay-as-you-throw scheme is now set to begin on August 1 rather than April 1 following a surprise postponement on Friday after the city’s leader decided another delay was needed to better promote it amid public confusion.
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on Saturday told a closed-door seminar that the government wanted more time because residents were not familiar with the execution details. He also pledged to review promotional efforts.
The scheme, first floated more than 20 years ago, aims to encourage people to recycle more and cut down on the amount of rubbish they throw out by requiring them to buy government-approved garbage bags, available in nine sizes, for 11 HK cents (1 US cent) per litre. Designated labels will also be sold for large or oddly sized items.
The current publicity campaign offers no shortage of videos explaining how the scheme works. Tse had said these videos had been played “thousands of times” when he defended promotional efforts in his blog on Tuesday.