Advertisement
Opinion
Hong Kong’s lack of ‘producer pays’ bill leaves city scrambling for recycling answers
- The government’s plan for a new drinks carton recycler to be up and running in just a few months is unrealistic
- Rather than piecemeal solutions, Hong Kong needs producer responsibility legislation that comes with an initial recycling target rate of 70 per cent
3-MIN READ3-MIN
Edwin Lau Che-feng is founder of The Green Earth.
The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) announced on February 14 that it would invite interested parties to submit tenders for the processing and recycling of drinks cartons collected from government-funded green community facilities from July 1. This move is meant to “maintain the current positive momentum of the public in recycling beverage cartons as well as the completeness and stability of the recycling chain”.
The land lease of the city’s only drinks carton recycler, Mil Mill, will expire in June, while the new large-scale pulping facility at EcoPark in Tuen Mun is expected to begin operations in 2025. A day after the government’s announcement, Mil Mill said it had been in contact with its lessor, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, and several suitable sites had been identified so that its operations could continue beyond June.
Does this mean Hongkongers can continue recycling used drinks cartons without a hitch? Are there are companies other than Mil Mill in Hong Kong with the technological know-how and equipment to recycle cartons and which can build a new paper pulping plant in such a short time?
Select Voice
Select Speed
1x
AI-generated voice