When will the Trial Scheme commence and finish ? When will the result of the Trial Scheme be announced?

We envisage that the Trial Scheme will commence at the end of 2006 and be completed in the first quarter of 2007. The result will be announced when we complete the data analysis.

The objective of the Trial Scheme is to examine the logistical arrangements for waste recovery and disposal in different housing settings for reference in the feasibility study of introducing a variable-rate charging scheme, such as the distribution of bags, waste collection and auditing, as well as other complementary measures.

During the trial period, the residents of the participating estates will be given "designated bags" for disposal of non-recyclable domestic waste. We will consider views from relevant stakeholders including the residents, property management companies and cleansing contractors on the use of "designated bags", the material and design of the bags.

Some participating housing estates will be provided with "food waste bags" so that we can study the feasibility of source separation of food waste from other wastes.

What is the content and detailed programme of the Trial Scheme?

We have invited 20 housing estates to participate in the Trial Scheme, including public rental estates, subsidised sales flats, private housing estates and Government quarters.

We will carry out the Trial Scheme in three phases: the 1st phase will involve a 4-week baseline survey; the 2nd phase will be a 3-month trial; and the 3rd phase will be a questionnaire survey to collect views and comments from the participating residents on the use of "designated bags" and "food waste bags".

We will provide free "designated bags" and "food waste bags" to the residents of the selected housing blocks through the property management companies.

The residents should put the recyclables into the waste separation bins installed in each floor or the common area of the building, and use the "designated bags" to dispose of the non-recyclable waste.

Besides, for those residents provided with "food waste bags", they should use the "food waste bags" to dispose of the food waste separately from the general refuse.

What is the basis in drawing up the list of housing estates participating in the Trial Scheme ? What is the distribution pattern of the housing estates among the 18 districts ?

The housing estates participating in the Trial Scheme include public rental estates, subsidised sales flats, private housing estates and Government quarters.

The objective of the Trial Scheme is to examine the logistical arrangements for waste recovery and disposal. Therefore, participating estates should have already installed source separation facilities in the common area while some of them should have installed such facilities at each floor.

Taking into account the clear objective of the Trial Scheme and its limited scale, and based on our experience of implementing the Programme on Source Separation of Domestic Waste, we invite those housing estates that have already gained some experience in the source separation of waste to join the Trial Scheme.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) charging system can adopt different modes of charging according to the weight or volume of the waste collected, or the frequency of waste collection.

Taking into account Hong Kong's unique characteristics and the multi-occupant high rise living environment, we consider the pre-paid "designated bag" approach could form the basis for implementing MSW charging in Hong Kong, and this approach will be studied in the Trial Scheme.

We will use plastic bags with different designs, sizes and specifications in the Trial Scheme to assess the differences among the bags in meeting the requirements of the households.

Households in Hong Kong have used to put domestic waste in plastic bags to upkeep environmental hygiene. The major sources of plastic bags include shopping bags, self purchased garbage bags or garbage bags provided by the property management.

During the Trial Scheme, the "Designated bags" and "food waste bags" will replace other plastic bags for the collection of non-recyclable domestic waste and food waste. During the 3-month period, we do not envisage any significant increase of plastic bags brought about by the Trial Scheme.

All "designated bags" and "food waste bags" distributed during the Trial Scheme will be used for collecting non-recyclable domestic waste and food waste. We will arrange the recovery of any unused bags for recycling and reuse at the end of the Trial Scheme.

All the housing estates participating in the Trial Scheme have already installed source separation facilities in the common area while some of them have installed such facilities at each floor of the buildings for the collection of recyclables. The property management of the individual estates will arrange recycling contractors to recover the recyclables collected during the Trial Scheme.

Some participating housing estates will distribute "food waste bags" to study the feasibility of source separation of food waste. The food waste collected during the Trial Scheme will be disposed of together with other domestic waste by the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department, or the waste collection contractor of the individual estates.

In line with the principle of "polluter pays", a "variable rate" charging scheme is more appropriate for Hong Kong so that it could create direct economic incentive for people to reduce waste and encourage people to separate and recover useful materials from the waste stream. We have looked into a number of countries and cities that have adopted MSW charging schemes, and we consider the "pre-paid bags" system adopted by Korea and Taipei might serve as good reference for Hong Kong.

The Trial Scheme is aimed to examine the logistical arrangements for waste recovery and disposal for adopting the designated bag system, so that we can take them into account in the feasibility study of introducing a variable rate charging scheme. We will fully consider the observations and feedback gathered from the Trial Scheme, so that we can design a suitable variable rate charging scheme which suits the unique multi-occupant multi-storey living environment in Hong Kong.

The MSW charging scheme has territory-wide implications. Once we have completed the feasibility study of introducing a variable rate charging scheme, we will consult the public on the specific legislative proposal before we introduce a Bill into the Legislative Council.