Only solution to waste-charging scheme doubts is intensive public education
- Daily TV broadcasts giving advice on each category of waste would help ensure everyone is well prepared ahead of the full roll-out of the scheme
- To delay again after one high-profile postponement would make the government look indecisive
Hong Kong may be past the point of no return with respect to the introduction of its charging scheme for domestic waste. But are we ready?
The imminence of the start date has forced me to really focus on the subject for the first time, and brought home the extent of things I do not know. So I have questions, but also some suggestions of how they might best be answered.
Unless otherwise directed, I intend to continue to use ordinary bags in this process. Can someone confirm that recyclers are able to deal with colour supplements and magazines as well as ordinary newspapers?
Glass bottles are another big item for us. They disappear from the refuse area readily enough, but should we be separating bottles made from clear glass from tinted ones? How thoroughly do we need to wash them out first?
I have a similar raft of questions about plastic items, ordinary paper, cardboard, clothes, shoes, batteries, books, aluminium cans and other metal objects. No doubt other areas of ignorance will emerge as the exercise gets under way.
My suggestion is to launch an intensive public education programme between now and the end of July on every aspect of disposal. Each week, the government should select a product category from the list quoted earlier and put out a public information broadcast each evening in the five minutes before the main news bulletin.
This should give advice on whether and how those products can be legally disposed of, including recycling options. People could phone a hotline with queries, which could be answered in a round-up programme at the end of the week.
On-site tours should be arranged for all residents – by management companies, owners’ corporations or home affairs personnel (perhaps supported by district councillors) so that everyone in a given area is familiar with the recycling/disposal options in their vicinity.
Devising, launching and implementing such an exercise will require a huge effort from all sides.
The argument for a different approach was recently set out in the China Daily by Lingnan University luminary Ho Lok-sang. Ho accepts the situation is serious and urgent action is required, but queries whether a charge per household would be more practicable. I think it is too late to change horses.
There are going to be some interesting post-implementation implications. People are always writing to me on an unsolicited basis to offer expensive wine or the opportunity to purchase overseas properties. Local tradesmen push fliers into the letter box to offer plumbing or electrical services, or tune up air conditioners ready for summer.
Waste charging scheme: do Hong Kong officials get it?
Periodically, the government, political parties and district councillors also write. Since I will have to pay for the disposal of the correspondence and the envelopes in which it came, will there be a convenient system to opt out of some or all of these?
So I am inclined to think the government will go ahead on August 1 but those involved would do well to put in some hard work before the magic day, and be prepared to move quickly as and when any problems arise during implementation.
If there are lingering doubts as the deadline draws near, one possible answer would be to buy a little extra time by issuing the bags free to households for the first few months to give people an opportunity to adjust their behaviour.
Mike Rowse is an independent commentator