Hong Kong residents can purchase government-approved rubbish bags carrying labels of authenticity from more than 3,000 designated stores and online platforms starting next month, the city’s environment minister has said.
Authorities earlier launched an investigation into allegations that internet users were selling trial versions of the designated rubbish bags months before the roll-out of the charging scheme on April 1.
“The designated bags are printed with labels containing anti-counterfeiting features, allowing people to easily tell whether they are fake,” Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on Saturday said.
“I urge the public to avoid buying the bags from unknown sources. We will cooperate with customs to step up inspection and law enforcement against the selling of fake bags.”
More than 3,000 authorised online platforms and sales points would start selling the designated bags and labels from next month onwards, the Environmental Protection Department said.
Tse said they included supermarkets and convenience stores and hoped they could be sold in management offices of housing estates, with details to be announced later this month.
From April 1, residents will be charged for the waste they dispose of as part of the government’s municipal solid waste charging campaign, aimed at tackling the amount of rubbish tossed into landfills.
Hong Kong groups say disabled and chronically ill should get free trash bags
Hong Kong groups say disabled and chronically ill should get free trash bags
Residents will be required to collect their rubbish in prepaid bags that will cost 11 HK cents per litre for the first three years of the policy. Bags will be available in nine different sizes from three litres (0.79 gallons) up to 100 litres.
Any rubbish that cannot be bagged should be affixed with designated labels.
On online forums, posts circulating showed pictures of a green garbage bag available for sale online, with the title “Designated bag for Hong Kong municipal solid waste charging next year”. They were imprinted with characters “For trial only”.
On Saturday, a spokesman for the department said authorities suspected that the rubbish bag was a dummy one which was provided by the department to participants for trial projects aimed at cultivating new waste disposal practices. The project commenced in 2018 and was completed in 2023.
He highlighted that the use of the trial bags was not allowed once the scheme came into effect. The department has completed registering trademarks for the design of the bags and labels to guard against counterfeit products.
Why Hong Kong’s new household waste disposal law is a load of rubbish
Why Hong Kong’s new household waste disposal law is a load of rubbish
Any person who sells or possesses counterfeit goods could be fined up to HK$500,000 (US$64,000) and be sentenced to five years imprisonment.
The department said it had also notified customs of the findings of their follow-up investigations.
Government data showed that each Hongkonger disposed of 1.53kg (3.37lbs) of waste per day in 2021, more than other major cities.
The charging policy has already come under criticism, with some saying it is unfair to the city’s residents with disabilities.
In early December, the Direction Association for the Handicapped called for the government to provide disabled people with free bags after a survey showed that some would have to pay four times more than a regular household.
