Municipal Solid Waste Charging

 The government recently announced the postponement of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) charging from the designated end of 2023 to April 1, 2024. Greeners Action has been concerning about waste reduction, recycling and waste charging for many years. Greeners Action expressed our disappointment at the government's "continual delay", given that sufficient time was facilitated for the government to deal with details of execution as waste charing has been discussed for over a decade with an addition of legislative prepartion period of 18 months (starting from the third reading of the Legislative Council in August 2021). We are worried that delaying of the MSW charing will only further exacerbate the problem of landfill saturation, and finally moving towards the use incinerators as the "ultimate option" of handling the waste.

We believe that the authorities have not proposed specific measures to effectively monitor rural areas and the "three-nil" buildings, where illegal dumping are particularly serious. If the government extends the grace period up to one year, i.e. until April 1, 2025 , to officially enforced the MSW charing, we strongly oppose the move as it is inappropriate and greatly impact the effectiveness of the law. To assist Hong Kongers to adapt to new habits of waste disposal, the government should apply a holistic approach in "reuse, recycle and reduce" education combining with the law enforcement.

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