Editorial | Waste-to-energy plant backs recycling push in Hong Kong
Government insists new Hong Kong facility complements existing strategy and does not signal a shift away from the reduction of rubbish to burning it
Many in Hong Kong think the city has all but given up on tackling the waste problem that is steadily overwhelming landfills. Among the reasons for scepticism is the government’s shelving of a waste-charging scheme last May.
So it was good to hear Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan trying to reassure the public that efforts to promote recycling and reduce rubbish remain alive and well.
Officials must work on new green initiatives and help people understand how plans, including a new waste-to-energy facility, can help the city clean up its act.
Tse said the plant set to launch this year would incinerate rubbish and use the heat to generate electricity. He said the technology, which is meant to reduce pressure on landfills sites, was “an absolute necessity”.
The I·PARK1 facility on an island off Lantau is expected to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than landfills and offer a sustainable source of energy to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Its by-products could be used for building materials, and metal residues may be further recycled.
Tse insisted the plant, and a second facility being planned, do not signal a shift in policy away from promoting waste reduction to a focus on burning it.
