The Hong Kong government said its waste charging scheme had become a “public disturbance” over the course of a two-month trial run.
In a paper submitted to the Legislative Council on Friday, the Environment and Ecology Bureau and the Environmental Protection Department said residents found the waste tax to be a hassle and the designated rubbish bags to be overpriced.
Frontline cleaners reported an “significant increase” in their workloads and raised concerns that they may inadvertently break the law by handling rubbish incorrectly. Some even said they would quit their jobs upon the official launch, the government said.
The government itself did not say whether the tax will be introduced on August 1 as scheduled.
See also: Do not delay Hong Kong waste tax further, ex-environment official and expert urge government
The government’s submission comes days before it is scheduled to consult lawmakers on the waste charging scheme on Monday.
The waste tax, a policy to encourage recycling by making people pay as they dispose, was first proposed by the government in 2005. Following numerous consultations and trials, it was signed into law in 2021.
Originally scheduled to launch in April, the full implementation of the already-delayed waste tax was delayed in January. A trial run began at 14 premises in April instead, ahead of the August rollout.
Guidelines unclear, rollout unsuitable
Residents also thought that official guidelines and instructions were unclear, the government said, adding that some households did not understand the scheme’s legislative intent was to promote waste reduction and recycling.
Residents surveyed by the government said the authorities should either call off the waste tax or give people time to thoroughly understand and prepare for the official rollout, and that the August 1 implementation date was “unsuitable”.
The government also cited residents’ views that a more convenient recycling network was needed, as the coverage of food waste collection points was inadequate.
Use of the designated bags was around 70 per cent at shopping malls, but stood at around 20 per cent at “three nil” buildings — apartment blocks that do not have any form of residential organisation nor property management, the government said.
Uptake ranged from 20 per cent to just over 50 per cent at public and private residential buildings. At residential care homes, restaurants and government buildings, meanwhile, “full compliance was achieved in general,” the government said.
‘Mainstream opinion’
Separately, Hong Kong’s largest pro-establishment party has called for a controversial waste charging scheme to be delayed once again, citing “mainstream” public opinion.
At a press conference on Friday, lawmakers of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) said 65 per cent of the 1,500 respondents it surveyed were opposed to the scheme, while some 80 per cent called for another delay or for the scheme to be shelved completely.
Ben Chan of the DAB called on the government to delay the tax and implement it “pragmatically.”
The DAB survey added to a list of polls demonstrating a widespread unwillingness for the charging scheme to officially be rolled out this August.
Hong Kong’s top public opinion pollster in April found that 68 per cent of 1,812 respondents opposed the waste tax being rolled out in August, with only 12 per cent supporting the starting date. Just over half of the respondents were against the scheme itself, while 27 per cent supported it.
Pro-establishment lawmaker Rebecca Chan this month urged the government to postpone the scheme, citing a survey conducted by her office.
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