SCMP.com - Five years on, several opportunities wasted to cut dumping

SCMP.com - Five years on, several opportunities wasted to cut dumping: "SCMP.com - Five years on, several opportunities wasted to cut dumping"

Joyce Ng
Oct 07, 2010

Environmentalists say it may be time to revisit a 2005 policy that as yet has delivered little progress on its stated goals of cutting waste at source and recycling more. The Environment Bureau failed to stick to the timetable for the waste-management policy launched by minister Edward Yau Tang-wah's predecessor, Sarah Liao Sau-tung. Topping the to-do list is a household waste disposal charge, seen as crucial to reversing the quickening pace of growth of waste volumes. Officials said they could not introduce it this year as scheduled because they needed to study more the most appropriate charging methods. Nothing about this study has been released and the proposal has been put on hold indefinitely. Officials have said it is difficult, for example, to decide whether the rate should be based on the size of a flat or be fixed for all households. Friends of the Earth senior environmental officer Michelle Au Wing-tsz said household waste charges had proved effective in South Korea and Taiwan, where waste generation had dropped by at least 30 per cent. "Lawmakers have had reservations about the waste charge for fear of voters' opposition. But this landfill debate brings a good opportunity for them to discuss the proposal and woo support," Au said. The bureau has also been unable to meet the schedule for reducing waste through product-responsibility schemes, under which charges are imposed for disposing of a range of items including plastic shopping bags, electronic waste and vehicle tyres by 2007, packaging materials and beverage containers by 2008, and rechargeable batteries by last year. Only the plastic bag levy has been introduced. The scheme for electronic waste is under public consultation and is not expected to become policy for three to four more years, while little or nothing has been done about the other items. Dr Man Chi-sum, a member of the Advisory Council on the Environment, said it was "fatal" that the government had been unable to make faster progress on the plans, expected to cut waste generation by 10 to 20 per cent. "The government should make the schemes a priority. It is also within lawmakers' control to push forward the schemes, which come by way of subsidiary legislation," Man said. Recycling of food waste, which makes up 37 per cent of the rubbish dumped in landfills, is another measure awaiting action. The Productivity Council has developed technology to treat food waste but the government has yet to allocate funds to collect and treat food waste from housing estates. The EcoPark, the city's flagship recycling base, remains largely idle as commercial recyclers that won the leases have been struggling with red tape for two years in their efforts to set up operations. Two charities were put on a fast track last year with direct government assistance but their effectiveness remains to be seen. The 2005 strategy aimed to reduce the amount of waste from households, industrial and commercial sectors by 1 per cent a year up to 2014. Last year, 6.45 million tonnes of waste were generated in the city. Of it, 3.27 million tonnes went to landfills, against 3.3 million tonnes in 2008.