Hong Kong authorities have not given up the “pay-as-you-throw” waste charging scheme, according to the environment chief, and the goal of achieving “zero landfill” by 2035 remains unchanged.
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The comments made by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on Monday followed the government’s announcement last Tuesday that the scheme would be put on hold indefinitely, as the city was battling Super Typhoon Ragasa.
“We have not decided to cancel or stop using the waste charging scheme in the future. We believe that at this stage, it is necessary to temporarily defer [the scheme], considering various factors. We will continue this deferral, but that does not mean we will do nothing after the deferral,” he said on a radio programme.
“The charging scheme is a tool. If we feel that the tool is not effective at the current stage, we believe we should use other methods to reduce waste and promote recycling.”
Tse defended the government’s decision to continue suspending the scheme, citing strong public opposition and better-than-expected results from current voluntary efforts.
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“In response to public feedback, the government decided to suspend the charging. However, following the suspension, you can see that we have been strongly promoting waste reduction and recycling,” he said.