The Hong Kong government has said it will speed up food waste recycling and set up hundreds more smart bins to collect food waste before August, when the city officially rolls out its delayed waste charging scheme.
The Environmental Protection Department said on Tuesday that 700 smart bins for food waste collection would be installed at 213 public housing estates across the city by August.
These recycling facilities will serve around one third of Hong Kong’s population, the department added. Currently, some 530 food waste bins have been installed at 150 public housing estates.
Hong Kong in January announced that it was postponing the introduction of a waste tax from April to August, citing “public concerns.” A trial run of the scheme, designed to reduce domestic waste by requiring people to pay for what they dispose of through the use of designated bags, began at 14 premises on April 1.
To provide more recycling facilities, the Recycling Fund set up by the Environmental Protection Department is funding private housing estates to establish smart bins for food waste.
Additionally, the Environmental Campaign Committee launched a pilot scheme last December to fund the installation and management of smart bins at large-scale private housing estates with over 1,000 residents. Around 150 applications have been made via the scheme, 40 of which have been approved.
Tse Chin-wan, the environment chief revealed in January that the government was renting the smart bins from contractors at a cost of HK$2,000 per month, which covered transportation, installation, and maintenance.
Tse added that there were 10 suppliers providing smart bins and repair services in Hong Kong.
“The EPD has been closely monitoring the market developments and has opened up the technology platform to encourage the participation of more new suppliers to offer different models, thereby fostering healthy competition,” Tse said.
Controversy
The waste charging scheme has sparked heated debate, with some calling for more support for recycling and others, including a pro-establishment heavyweight, urging the government to postpone the plan again.
However, environmental groups, experts and former officials have backed the policy, saying it was a scheme proposed in 2005 for the sake of environmental protection and Hong Kong could not afford to drop the plan.
The city’s leader John Lee said last Tuesday that the scheme had been passed into law, and authorities would announce further deployment plans in May or June.
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