Waste Not, Want Not: Part 2 - Environment Protection Department

Initial broadcast - 8:00 pm Friday August 28, 2015

To listen to the show's initial broadcast, please visit RTHK's DAB 31.

To listen to the show after the initial broadcast, please visit the archive here. (Skip to 7m15s!)

We are so addicted to trash in Hong Kong that we will soon have to build an incinerator to burn our excessive waste. So, I wanted to learn more about what the government (the Environmental Protection Department) is doing to reduce our waste by improving recycling. In today’s episode we sit down with Mr. Wong Hon Meng of the EPD to discuss recycling and waste education. Mr. Wong talks about the importance of the recycling industry, and how the EPD is supplying funds in various manners to help encourage the industry. He explains how after you throw something into the recycling bin, there is a whole process stream to collect, sort, and then send off our recyclables. 

There are a few useful tips about how we as individuals can improve the situation. We also discuss plastics and why it’s so challenging to make use of recycled plastic. All in all, while the episode talks about what the EPD is doing, I believe the EPD is simply not on track to improve this dire waste situation in Hong Kong. They are not putting pressure on shops and businesses to reduce the packaging they provide, and they simply do not make sufficient effort to help educate and encourage the public to recycle. Waste management and recycling in Hong Kong is simply a mess. As a result, we have to build a dioxin-causing, polluting incinerator on a beautiful island. Come on EPD -- you MUST do better!!!

What Can Be Better?

(Photo by K. Davies)

Plastic Bottle Deposit System: In the episode, I point out that plastics don’t really have a value. Mr. Wong notes, for example, that paper and metal is widely recycled in Hong Kong, because “old people” go around and collect these materials to bring to shops to get money. While plastic has a lesser value to the recycling industry, the EPD needs to step up and give it an “artificial” value: a deposit. If plastic drink bottles had a deposit (e.g. $5), the public would be encouraged to return them to a proper place to be recycled. Instead, to the public the plastic has no value and it is treated poorly: left on streets, thrown in the ample orange trash bins. As a result, all these plastic bottles are ending up in our landfills and in our oceans, which you can easily see by visiting any beach. Just think of how many beaches would be instantly cleaned by “old people” if all the plastic bottles could be returned for some change! Of course it will take time to set up a deposit system, but in the meantime, instead of giving taxpayers money back, why not create some stations and pay a small sum of money for plastic bottles?

(Photo by K. Davies)

Old people doing the the dirty work? Wtf?! I actually found it quite upsetting that an EPD official would even refer to old people collecting recyclables for money. These people work very hard going around the streets to collect cardboard and metal cans, and you can see what damage it does to their backs after years of this work. They are offering a very important service to society as a whole, and it’s good if this system is working efficiently, but it is no ideal that any society should admire.

Terrible bins - Get a clue! The EPD seems oblivious to how petty the recycling bins are that are dotted around the street. You can hardly fit things in the little compartments, and when I first came to 

(Photo by K. Davies)

Hong Kong, I actually laughed when I realized that these small bins are for residential recycling -- in such a densely populated area! Mr. Wong says how they serve as a “reminder” to the public that we can recycle, and what a shame! The bins actually send, to me, the opposite message to not bother, because they’re so small and difficult to find. Recycling bins need to be in the public’s FACE, shouting out “Look at me!!! RECYCLE”. No, ours just politely sit in some hidden corners, out of sight and out of mind, just like our landfills. Another problem, too, is the over-abundance of regular orange bins. 

I’ve picked up a habit lately of picking up plastic bottles I find on the street to take them to a recycling bin, and it is simply SO HARD to find one when I’m walking around on the street.

Light at the end of the tunnel: On a positive note, there are some good things planned with the EPD. A “producer pays” scheme for glass will start soon, so glass will have a value, and slowly glass recycling containers are appearing. The government is also working to start a food waste recycling plant to turn food waste into compost. This is a good step forward, as according to the EPD around 40% of our waste is food waste. (I’ll note, though, that it doesn’t make much sense that the EPD is going to start a food waste program, which would in theory reduce our waste by 40%, but we still need the incinerator?) They are also working to develop a Municiple Solid Waste charging scheme so that essentially we will have to pay for our waste. (At the moment IT’S FREE! Go on, waste as much as you want, no one has to pay the price!!!) It’s about damn time! Please get on with it soon!

WE CAN DO BETTER!

How you can help:

Reduce, reuse, then recycle.

• Reduce by using your own reusable water bottle. Shop at places or choose items with less packaging (e.g. powder laundry detergent instead of liquid). Reduce consumption. See the Story of Stuff for a very good introduction about our consumerism-based society.
• Reuse. Save any plastic bags for a second use (e.g. cat litter clean ups!). Reuse glass jars, donate clothing.
• Recycle. There is a lot that can be recycled. Here is a useful guide from the EPD. Avoid things that cannot be recycled: styrofoam lunch boxes!

Request your building to sign up for the recycling at source building scheme.

It’s a huge pain, but you CAN recycle your glass. There are several places in many neighborhoods.

Learn more about how to be a good recycler. It is good to rinse plastics and be careful not to leave food residue. Contaminated items may ruin the whole bin of recyclables and reduces the value of the materials.

Key Terms

coming soon

Credits

A special thank you to Mr. Wong Hon Meng and Ms. Heidi Liu of the EPD.

Kathryn Davies - Producer & Host

Fei Hung - Co-host

Music by Kodomo (Concept 10)