Edwin Lau

Opinion | 10 years on, what has Hong Kong’s grand plan to cut waste actually achieved?

Latest data shows the city has failed to meet the targets set out in its 10-year blueprint, from recycling rates and landfill waste, to tougher legislation and building infrastructure

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The North East New Territories Landfill, seen on September 2, 2022. Last year, Hongkongers sent 1.5kg of rubbish to the landfills per person per day, nearly twice the target the city was to have achieved by now, according to its 10-year blueprint. Photo: Felix Wong

Edwin Lau

Published: 9:30am, 30 Dec 2023Updated: 10:45am, 30 Dec 2023

Hong Kong’s recently released annual waste report has underlined the lack of progress since the environmental authorities launched a waste reduction blueprint more than a decade ago.

Last year, Hong Kong managed a recycling rate of just 32 per cent and disposed of 1.51kg of municipal solid waste per person every day – failing to achieve the targets of 55 per cent and 0.8kg respectively, laid out in the Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022. The gap is large and disappointing.

When this blueprint was released in May 2013, then-environment minister Wong Kam-sing said the government was “committed to taking all the necessary decisions and actions” to drive Hong Kong “towards a ‘use less, waste less’ lifestyle”.

Hong Kong committed to three key actions in the blueprint. First, developing policies and legislation on waste charging and producer responsibility schemes. Second, mobilising the community through campaigns that target the reduction of food waste, glass bottles and shopping bags, etc. Third, building infrastructure including organic waste treatment facilities, waste-to-energy facilities and landfill extensions.

Well, 10 years have gone by, and the city is still waiting for its waste charging scheme to take effect next April. Last month, the Environment and Ecology Bureau gave an initial briefing to the Legislative Council’s environmental affairs panel to propose a common legislative framework for producer responsibility schemes.

The city’s first waste-to-energy facility for municipal solid waste remains under construction. But, even when up and running, the facility will only reduce the volume of waste – it will not contribute towards resource conservation or recycling.

The first incineration boiler module for I·PARK1, Hong Kong’s first waste-to-energy facility for treating municipal solid waste, begins its journey to Hong Kong from Zhuhai on February 12. The Environmental Protection Department is building the facility on an artificial island in the sea off Shek Kwu Chau. Photo: Handout