Plans to shelve Hong Kong waste-charging scheme welcomed by NGOs, care homes and catering trade
- Post earlier learned twice-postponed waste charging scheme to be shelved with no definite launch date in sight after two-month trial run caused confusion
- Stakeholders appeal to authorities to boost recycling network, sort out problems with scheme’s execution and use subsidies to offset extra waste-handling costs
The possible shelving of Hong Kong’s controversial waste-charging scheme has been welcomed by many of those set to be hit hardest by the change, including those on low incomes, restaurateurs and care home operators.
Stakeholders appealed to authorities to enhance the city’s recycling network, sort out uncertainties over any future attempt’s execution and offer subsidies to offset extra waste-handling costs.
The Post earlier learned that the twice-postponed waste charging scheme would be shelved with no definite launch date in sight after a two-month trial run met with a compliance rate as low as 20 per cent and widespread confusion.
Sze Lai-shan, the deputy director of the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO), said the announcement was good news for the city’s underprivileged, who were worried about increases in their cost of living.
“Suspending the scheme is the right thing to do, but what’s the point of shelving it indefinitely?” she asked.
“Members in our neighbourhood are not against the idea of being more environmentally friendly, they just question whether the waste-charging scheme can achieve its purpose.”
The pay-as-you-throw scheme, first proposed by authorities in 2004, would have required people to dispose of their trash in designated plastic bags available in nine sizes, priced from 30 HK cents to HK$11 (US$1.41).
