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Letters | Don’t rely on incinerators to fix Hong Kong’s waste problem
- Readers discuss the city’s waste disposal practices
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Since the government’s waste-charging scheme was shelved in May, public concern over waste disposal has largely subsided. However, this doesn’t mean Hong Kong’s waste crisis has disappeared, and the public can forget about it.
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The environmental authorities announced last month that I·PARK1, Hong Kong’s first “waste-to-energy” incinerator, as it is euphemistically called, could be operational next year. The incinerator is part of the plan to stop relying on landfills by 2035 and will have a daily capacity of 3,000 tonnes.
A second incinerator, I·PARK2, could have a larger daily capacity of up to 6,000 tonnes. A third one is already being considered, but could the authorities be getting ahead of themselves?
The city disposed of a daily average of 11,128 tonnes of municipal solid waste in 2022. A medium-term target in the Waste Blueprint for Hong Kong 2035 is a 40 to 45 per cent reduction in per capita waste disposal.
Given how achievable the target is, is there a need to push the two incinerators’ combined capacity to 9,000 tonnes a day? I·PARK2 is unlikely to be running at full capacity, let alone a third facility.
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