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Letter to the Editor of South China Morning Post - Response to readers' letter on waste charging
On 13 December, there were two letters relating to waste charging (Solid waste charge should be last resort and New policy could face stiff resistance).
Let me first deal with the range of measures to provide a fuller picture of our waste strategy.
Firstly, we aim to reduce waste at source. On 6 December, we announced the Food Wise Campaign to tackle both household and commercial-industrial food waste. We wish to galvanise the community to adopt new practices to both reduce and improve the handling of food waste. We will bring new legislation next year to deal with electrical and electronic waste, as well as extend the plastic bag levy scheme to cover all retail outlets. We will also shortly be consulting the public on implementing a glass recycling system.
Secondly, Hong Kong's recycling rate in 2011 was 48%. By 2015, we aim to increase it to 55%. This requires us to work with the community to improve separation of waste at source. We will announce new initiatives shortly.
Thirdly, we need to recover energy and resource from unavoidable waste and reduce the bulk volume before it goes to our landfills. A state-of-the-art sludge incinerator is being built in Tuen Mun and will commission in a year's time. We will also build two organic waste treatment plants to handle food wastes. We hope to secure full funding for them to come into operation in 2016 and 2017.
Our proposal for municipal waste charging should be seen within the context of the measures we are doing or about to implement. Our previous public consultation shows the public supports the principle of waste charging. The Council on Sustainable Development will further engage the public in 2013 on details of a charging scheme. This may then allow the government to legislate and for charging to begin by 2016. We will of course take affordability into account. The issue of illegal dumping and fly tipping will be considered as part of designing the waste charging system.
Fourthly, our three landfills will be full within this decade. When all the abovementioned measures are in place, Hong Kong will still have to dispose of about 9,000 tonnes of waste per day. Thus, we will both need to expand landfill capacities, as well as apply modern incineration technology as a total package.
We appreciate the total picture is complicated and has many parts. We will be putting out a new waste management policy paper in the new year and look forward to the community's comments.
Christine Loh
Under Secretary for the Environment
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