Hong Kong's long-awaited municipal solid waste (MSW) charging plan will soon be submitted to the Legislative Council (LegCo) for discussion, and is expected to go into force by the second half of 2019 at the earliest, Hong Kong's environment chief said Monday.
"We are going to have a meeting with the LegCo's Environmental Affairs Panel within this month. By that time, we would announce more details about the MSW charging. Hopefully with the support, we would table the law proposal to LegCo and would like to start the Bills Committee soon, so that we can proceed to another milestone," Wong Kam-sing, secretary of the environment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, told media after a discussion session on the plan with representatives of multiple commerce chambers and industrial organizations.
Wong said at the session that the MSW charging, imposed on a "polluter pays" principle and based on the quantity of waste they produce, aims to create a financial incentive to drive behavioral changes in waste generation, thus reducing the overall waster disposal.
"Hong Kong's MSW increased by nearly 80 percent in the past 30 years, out pacing the corresponding population growth of 36 percent," he said, adding that the MSW charging could be "a key policy tool to achieve our waste reduction target."
The HKSAR government aims to reduce its daily per-capita waste production to 0.8 kg by 2022 from 1.27 kg in 2011.
On the timetable for implementing this plan, Wong said the legislation proposal is expected to be approved by the LegCo in the middle of 2018 and, after a preparation period of 12 to 18 month, the charging to be in force by the second half of 2019 at the earliest.
According to the plan, different stakeholders, including households, commercial and industrial organizations, property management companies, private waste collectors etc. will be subject to the charging. They will have to pay for the amount of rubbish they dispose of either by using pre-paid rubbish bags or via a landfill "gate fee" based on the weight of the trash.
Wong said after the session that he feels the business and industrial sectors would generally support the MSW charging, and his department will enhance communication with the sectors, as well as public education.
