By Fiona Sun

Copyright scmp

Hong Kong’s environment minister has said strong public opposition led to the continued suspension of the government’s long-delayed waste-charging scheme, but has stressed that the volume of rubbish being disposed of has fallen over the years.
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on Saturday defended the government’s decision to shelve the waste-charging scheme indefinitely.
He said multiple surveys showed about 70 to 80 per cent of respondents thought the scheme should not be implemented or that it was not appropriate for the policy to be carried out at this stage.
“Many opinions reflected that residents did not accept punitive waste-charging but were more willing to accept assistive and incentive measures to promote waste reduction and recycling,” he wrote on a blog.
“We received a lot of feedback from representatives from sectors, such as property management, catering and cleaning, which pointed out that they were currently facing staff shortages and operational challenges, and did not want the government to rush into implementing waste-charging.”
The Environment and Ecology Bureau said earlier this week the government would maintain the suspension of the waste-charging scheme, citing economic challenges amid a global tariff war and rising geopolitical risks.
Feedback over the past few months showed that society did not support the scheme’s implementation due to the current challenges and pressures of economic transformation, the bureau said.
The government’s decision left environmental groups disappointed, with some urging authorities to set out a clear road map and timeline for restarting the scheme.
The multimillion-dollar waste-charging scheme was first proposed in 2004 and passed in 2021, but faced repeated delays that saw its start date pushed from the end of 2023 to August 2024.
The scheme was shelved in May last year due to overwhelming opposition from residents.
Tse said on Saturday that the city’s long-term upwards trend of waste had reversed.

The amount of waste disposal went from an average of 11,358 tonnes per day in 2021 to 10,510 tonnes per day last year, a drop of 7.5 per cent, he said.
Per capita waste disposal fell by 8.5 per cent from a peak of 1.53kg (3.37lbs) per person a day in 2021 to 1.40kg in 2024, he said.
Tse added that the waste disposal volume continued to decline after the scheme was shelved in May last year, from an average of 10,652 tonnes per day in the first half of 2024 to 10,141 tonnes per day in the first six months of this year, a decrease of about 5 per cent.
He also noted the rising waste recycling volume and rate, saying the total recycling volume had gone from a low of about 1.54 million tonnes in 2020 to some 2.02 million tonnes in 2024.
The minister noted that the recycling rate had risen from 28 per cent to 34 per cent between 2020 and 2024.
Tse also said the city’s waste reduction and recycling strategies needed to adapt to the times.
“The government should formulate strategies to promote waste reduction and recycling in accordance with the circumstances so as to maximise the overall social benefits,” he said.
He laid out four directions for the city to continue promoting waste reduction and recycling, including stepping up public education and improving the recycling network.
Authorities would also closely collaborate with industries to explore and promote feasible environmental protection measures and leverage market forces to develop environmental infrastructure, he said.