Hong Kong’s Postponed Waste Disposal Levy: Addressing Concerns And Promoting Sustainable Waste Management

The Hong Kong government has announced that it will delay the start of its proposed Municipal Solid Waste Charging scheme to 1 August 2024. Originally slated to be launched 1 April 2024, the Municipal Solid Waste Charging scheme will involve charging all sectors, including the public, for waste collection. However, recently, the Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan has made the decision to move the scheduled launch to further educate the public on how it works. Though a prudent move to ensure a smoother transition, it has raised concerns from the public about how to reduce or better manage waste in the city in general. In this blog, we will address these concerns and look at ways to promote sustainable waste management.

Hong Kong’s waste issues

Hong Kong currently disposes much of its waste in landfills at a rate of around 15,000 tonnes a day, and sadly much of this waste is made up of recyclable items. This practice is simply unsustainable, particularly for a city already suffering land shortages. The Municipal Solid Waste Charging scheme, though delayed, is a step in the right direction to try to guide people to recycle more and create more sustainable waste management habits. However, there is a great deal more that can be done to help with the problem, these include:

Reducing single-use plastics

There should be initiatives to promote alternatives to single-use plastics, such as biodegradable materials, and reusable packaging.

More responsible e-waste disposal

The public needs to be better educated on what to do with their e-waste, and retailers should be encouraged to take back old e-waste items for proper disposal. 

Better food waste management

Food waste is the largest component of landfill waste in Hong Kong. There are better ways to deal with food waste though, such as home composting or GF Technovation’s smart food waste bin which allows collection, weighing and recording of food waste, to help businesses and households better manage food waste in a more sanitary and sustainable way.

Reducing construction waste

Hong Kong experiences a great deal of construction and, as such, a great deal of construction waste. Construction companies need to be further encouraged to sort, separate and recycle construction materials with on-site recycling facilities. 

Encouraging recycling

In general, there needs to be more recycling in the city to reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfills. GF Technovation has developed an auto-sorting smart recycling bin which makes recycling easy by automatically detecting and sorting items placed inside into the relevant section for each material. See it in action here:

Learn more about GF Technovation’s smart waste management technologies

To create a sustainable future, Hong Kong must keep addressing its waste management practices. As well as levies and public education, technology can be a great help in achieving this goal. To learn more about GF Technovation’s smart waste management technologies, click here.