“But we also are willing to listen to views and we will pragmatically decide the way forward as we go through the exercise and learn from the experience.”
He said an interdepartmental working group led by Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing would supervise the trial run to “plan the way forward” pragmatically based on the information gathered.
Lee stopped short of saying whether potential changes to the scheme’s implementation would cause the start date to be pushed back or involve adjusting guidelines, such as a phased introduction.
The participation rate and behavioural changes to reduce waste reduction would be among the elements closely watched by officials, Lee said.
“It is too early for us to make any conclusion,” he said.
Lee rejected a suggestion that further changes to the plan could deal a blow to the government’s credibility.
“I think a pragmatic government serious about doing all things after listening to people’s views and looking at results, statistics and opinions of the people who are involved, will create the community’s confidence in [the] government,” Lee said, hinting at possible flexibility in implementing the scheme.
Edward Lau Kwok-fan, chairman of the legislature’s environmental affairs panel, also expressed reservations on Tuesday over the scheme’s August launch because of its complexity and the scale of the test run, citing the city’s prior experience of getting used to a plastic bag levy.
Hongkongers ‘unprepared’ for April 1 trial run of waste-charging scheme
Hongkongers ‘unprepared’ for April 1 trial run of waste-charging scheme
“The plastic bag levy, which is much simpler than the waste fees, took over a decade to be implemented in stages, [the latter] will be more difficult and complex to try to introduce with so many things all at once,” Lau said.
Political scientist Sonny Lo Shiu-hing said he did not expect the waste levy to snowball into a headache for Lee because of the new political norm and “apolitical citizenry”, but a lack of credible public polls made it difficult to gauge residents’ views.
“But the policy fluctuations reflect poor policy planning and [the administration’s] lack of comprehensive considerations and risk assessment,” he said, adding the scheme could have benefited from a more thorough discussion at a district level before reaching the legislature.
Hong Kong delays waste charging to August as leader decides more education needed
Hong Kong delays waste charging to August as leader decides more education needed
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan told lawmakers on Monday the government would keep an open mind on whether the waste-charging scheme should be further revised or delayed after the trial results.
Steven Chan Wing-kit, assistant environmental affairs manager at NGO The Green Earth, said the government should set a definite roll-out date if it decided on a further delay, otherwise, many ongoing efforts to ramp up recycling support in the community would stall amid uncertainty.
“In the past, there were actually rather few facilities for food waste treatment and recycling,” he said. “However, once the exact date for the garbage levy was announced – previously April 1 and now August 1 – many places have begun to install treatment equipment with a sense of urgency.
“Seeing an exact date does drive preparations for recycling facilities.”
Chan urged authorities to bring more government bodies on board for the scheme, such as the Home Affairs Department, which could advise homeowners on the best practices for dealing with cleaning contractors.
The pay-as-you-throw scheme was initially slated to be implemented by the end of 2023, but was delayed to April 1 of this year due to logistical concerns.
Tse abruptly announced in January that the government had decided to postpone it again to August 1 after concluding more effective promotional efforts were needed amid public confusion.
The idea for a waste-charging plan was first floated by authorities more than 20 years ago.
Additional reporting by Oscar Liu
