Letters | 6 green ideas for Hong Kong’s chief executive
- Readers suggest what to do about the city’s waste and other problems, the removal of rubbish bins from streets, and more targeted ways of phasing out plastic
To revive the vibrancy of our city that we were once proud of, the government must adopt a holistic approach to sustainability. It must allocate more resources for protecting the environment, fostering better livelihoods for residents, attracting foreign investment, creating new and green job opportunities and boosting government revenue.
Single-use products should be eliminated as far as possible to avoid generating huge amounts of waste. To take single-use plastic drink containers as an example, setting the mandatory initial recovery target at 70 per cent will bolster the development of the local recycling industry, creating more green jobs and saving both resources and landfill space.
Decarbonising our buildings should be a top priority since around 60 per cent of our carbon emissions come from their energy use. Buildings should be mandated to disclose their energy utilisation index. No property developer should want to attract public attention with low grades.