Community Issues

Destined to Waste

Ever chucked a plastic water bottle into an ordinary purple rubbish bin? Any idea what happens to that bottle you don’t recycle? If you live in Sai Kung, it ends up as part of the 1,700 daily truckloads of waste sent to the South East New Territories (SENT) landfill in Tai Chik Sha, Tseung Kwan O. SENT is one of only three landfills in Hong Kong, all of which are located in the New Territories.

 

Our landfills are filling up fast and though they were meant to last till 2020, they’re now estimated to have only six to 10 years of life left. Of the 17,500 tonnes of solid waste sent to our landfills every day last year, 40% was domestic waste, according to the Environmental Protection Department (EPD). That means that every man, woman and child in Hong Kong contributed 1.35 kg each day, a 40% increase over 15 years ago.

 

Despite these dire warnings, Hong Kong is doing many things right. We recycle 52% of waste paper and 31% of plastics – recycling rates which, compared to certain industrialized countries, are not at all bad.  EPD's Waste Recycling Statistics 2004 will surprise you.

 

So, how are we getting the good recycling rates? The "3 coloured waste separation bins" scheme, set up by the EPD in 1999, now has 1,400 housing estates recycling paper, plastics and aluminum cans. This year the plastics recycling bin began gobbling up all kinds of plastics, from drinks and shampoo bottles to bags, toys and flower pots. Biscuit tins, food cans and mixed metal items such as pots and vacuum flasks are also finding new homes in the EPD's source separation scheme, in which waste recycling is made convenient and easy by having bins on individual floors of housing estates and buildings. This scheme, which offers incentives of 25% of the total setup cost up to a maximum of $150,000 to housing estates and buildings, has so far attracted 150 estates and buildings.

 

All the same, we still have a big waste problem. What are the solutions? They seem deceptively simple: reuse what can be reused, recycle what can't be reused, and find outlets for recycled products. Logical though this may be, here's where we need help. Reusing or binning items for recycling is not yet second nature to many, indicating there's room for improvement in education and environmental awareness training. Encouraging good habits also means learning to accept products made from recycled materials.

 

Recycling and waste reduction are more viable long-term solutions than creating more landfills or charging for construction waste disposal. The scarcity of land and the NIMBY (not in my backyard) phenomenon makes creation of new landfills difficult and impractical. Even though construction and demolition waste make up 38% of what goes into the landfills, the new construction waste disposal charges imposed in December this year are hardly likely to make a dent in the huge operational costs for these landfills. Overall, Hong Kong has spent $9 billion on operating costs since the first commissioning of landfills. Even when landfills are closed, they require aftercare costs for up to three decades.

 

Creating markets for recycled products is essential to the recycling effort. In general there are limited local markets for recycled paper, plastics and metals. Only low quality paper is recycled locally into packaging materials; high quality paper is all exported. There's very good recovery of metals but again, almost all of it is exported. Multiple types of resins and contamination with domestic waste create serious headaches for plastics recyclers. A plastic coding system to simplify sorting, initiated by the EPD and so far voluntary, may lead to healthier recycling rates.

 

There are 76 facilities engaged in recycling and reprocessing only 9% of Hong Kong's waste. The rest is exported. Selling our waste may be profitable – $3.4 billion in 2004 – but is that logical? Doing more of our own recycling would mean more local jobs in a sustainable industry and consequently more dollars going back into the economy. The practice of allocating land to waste recyclers on short-term tenancies only and their low margins of profit are no doubt major factors behind the minimal recycling. Perhaps, with long-term tenancies in the proposed 20 hectare EcoPark in Tuen Mun, recycling will function at a much greater capacity.

 

And to answer that last niggling question – why isn't glass recycled?  It's plain and simple – no market for recycled bottles, no money.

Now it's your turn..... What is or ISN'T happening in recycling in your neighbourhood? What would you like to see happening? What could be improved? Have your say... on the Explore Discussion Forum.