bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Ezra Cheung

Hong Kong residents are expected to start paying to dispose of their garbage on April 1 after environmental authorities on Monday delayed the launch of a pay-as-you-throw waste scheme.
When the time comes, residents will have to buy government-designated plastic bags or labels before disposing of their garbage.
The scheme sits at the centre of the overall waste reduction strategy to provide financial incentives for residents to reduce the amount of garbage produced.
Here is what residents need to know about the municipal solid waste charging scheme.

1. Why was there a sudden postponement?
The Environment and Ecology Bureau initially aimed to implement the garbage levy at the end of 2023.
A document submitted by the bureau to the Legislative Council on Monday revealed that some stakeholders, such as sanitation workers’ groups, had warned the original launch date would clash with the busiest season during winter holidays.
Industry representative Raymond Yau Pui-lam said: “Garbage volume peaks from October to March but reaches its trough between April and June.”
He added that because many workers were on leave during Lunar New Year in February, it was difficult for the industry to introduce a new practice.
Hong Kong ‘should delay waste-charging scheme until spring to prevent build-up’
2. How much do residents have to pay for throwing out garbage?
Residents will pay 11 HK cents (1.4 US cents) for each litre of garbage they throw away starting in April. They must store the waste in designated bags which come in nine sizes. The cheapest three-litre bags will cost 30 HK cents each, with the biggest 100-litre one going for HK$11.
Oversized waste that cannot fit into bags will require a special label costing a flat rate of HK$11 per piece.


Bags and labels will be available at supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies and online platforms. The Housing Society on Tuesday said vending machines would be installed on estates under its management.
There will be a half-year grace period after the levy is imposed, during which officials will mainly give verbal warnings to people who fail to comply with the scheme. Authorities have warned of “strict enforcement actions” when the period ends.
Lawbreakers will receive a HK$1,500 fine, while repeat offenders are liable to a maximum punishment of a HK$50,000 fine and six months in prison.
3. When did Hong Kong begin considering a levy to tackle waste issues?
Former secretary for the environment, transport and works Sarah Liao Sau-tung proposed introducing a garbage levy in a municipal solid waste management policy framework in 2004.
The document envisaged how the government would treat waste over the following decade, including using economic incentives to encourage residents to recycle more and dispose of less.
Hong Kong set to introduce waste-charging scheme after years of delay
In the same year, Liao led a pilot scheme to try sorting household domestic waste for recycling at 13 housing estates in Eastern district.
However, the framework was mothballed after Liao stepped down in 2007.
In 2018, then secretary for the environment Wong Kam-sing tabled a bill to the Legislative Council to charge people for their waste disposal.
The bill was passed in August 2021. It included an 18-month preparatory period to enable authorities and various sectors to strengthen recycling efforts and conduct public education.
4. How have other places fared after imposing a garbage levy?
The polluter pays principle was proposed in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, or Earth Summit, in Brazil, for garbage and sewage treatment.
The concept aims to hold waste producers responsible for remedying the damage they do to nature. In the United States, it has been adopted as a fundamental principle in its pollution control laws, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Bin there, don’t do that: Japan’s complicated garbage rules
Germany imposed a garbage levy as early as 1904. Local waste management firms set up garbage bins and charge individual households based on the neighbourhood’s population density.
In 2000, Japan adopted a garbage levy and stipulated that residents had to make appointments before throwing away large items, such as furniture, bicycles and electric appliances.
Since the implementation, Tokyo has seen its recycling rate reach 80 per cent, with waste disposal volume down by almost two-thirds.
Taipei has been charging for municipal waste since 2000, and Seoul since 1995. Both have seen at least a 30 per cent reduction in waste.
5. What else is the government considering to handle waste problems?
Before the launch, authorities will place collection bins near residential buildings with no owners’ corporation and establish more junk points in rural areas to help handle a potential surge of garbage.
The Environmental Protection Department is also attempting to strengthen its recycling network in the community by setting up recycling points in 50 public housing estates.
‘Confusion over biodegradable plastics undermining Hong Kong’s recycling efforts’
It is also ramping up its food waste collection capacity, to collect scraps in about 100 public housing buildings by the end of this year.
The department last October launched an 18-month trial scheme in five public housing estates and has since collected more than 400 tonnes of food waste. The collected food waste would be shipped to a treatment plant in Siu Ho Wan for energy generation and composting.
The city’s first waste incineration plant, in Shek Kwu Chau, is expected to commence service in 2025 to provide electricity to the city’s power grid.


8 people fall ill after eating seafood at Hong Kong’s Mandarin Oriental hotel

Hong Kong should see animal protection as a shared civic duty

Discovery of badly decomposed whale carcass on Sai Kung beach triggers probe

Hong Kong chef Peggy Chan wins Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants’ first Champions of Change Award

Hong Kong environmental issues

Why was Hong Kong’s pay-as-you-throw waste scheme delayed? Here is everything you need to know about it

Hongkongers will have to pay to throw away their garbage. Photo: Felix Wong

Then environment chief Wong Kam-sing displays a government-designated garbage bag in 2018. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Hong Kong should delay waste-charging scheme until spring to prevent garbage build-up over Christmas, Lunar New Year breaks: industry group

An industry group has urged the government to delay its plan to charge for garbage bags. Photo: Felix Wong

Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan has repeatedly said authorities were confident the scheme could be launched by the end of this year. Photo: Dickson Lee

Hong Kong wet markets still handing out plastic bags freely despite higher HK$1 levy, checks show

The plastic bag levy was doubled to HK$1 in December. Photo: Elson Li

The plastic bag levy was introduced in 2009 at about 3,000 retail outlets. Photo: Yik Yeung -man

Residents bring their own bags for groceries at a supermarket in Causeway Bay. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Many shoppers say they changed their habits well before the levy was doubled. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Hong Kong Economy

Scheme is at the centre of strategy to provide financial incentives for residents to cut amount of trash produced
Environmental Protection Department is also attempting to strengthen its recycling network in the community


Scheme is at the centre of overall waste reduction strategy to provide financial incentives for residents to reduce garbage.


Hong Kong economy

Waste Management

Recycling and waste reduction

Provide background, definition and detail of a specific topic, helping the reader understand how something works or what has happened in the past.  (Eg. What is Nafta? US and Mexico are on the verge of revising trade deal.)


Explainer