Waste collection, disposal and management in Hong Kong – initial notes

HF: According to a 2013 Enviromental Protection Department report all three landfill sites in Hong Kong will be full by 2019.

The creation of waste and its disposal have obviously been happening since people first settled in the area now known as Hong Kong though with a considerable increase in recent times.

A huge subject then that I approach with some trepidation. First because of the sheer length of time involved even if we just cover Hong Kong during the colonial period and post 1997. What happened to waste – domestic, commercial and industrial in 1850, 1900, 1950…?

Secondly because of controversy that has arisen due to past and current criticism of the government’s plans concerning waste collection, disposal and management, as well as criticism of commercial and industrial waste producers and indeed more recently a lack of individual responsibility regarding this issue.

And third the current huge problems Hong Kong has in disposing of its waste highlighted by the EPD forecast.

This initial article was prompted by our article Waste disposal in Hong Kong – 1997.

See:

1. Waste in Hong Kong – Enviromental Protection Department
2. Waste and Recycling in Hong Kong – HK Government website
3. Municipal Solid Waste – HK Government website
4. Waste Management in Hong Kong – wikipedia
5. Straight to landfill? Why Hong Kong is recycling less of your rubbish SCMP 18th September 2017
6. HK People Oppose Plans for Shek Kwu Chau Mega-Incinerator report compiled by a number of concerned groups
7. Waste in Hong Kong – Green Power website
8. Company responsible for recycling Hong Kong’s electronic waste dismisses concerns it cannot keep up with demand SCMP 4th August 2018
9. China’s waste ban has rocked the recycling world and revealed Hong Kong’s dire record. What next for the city’s rising mountains of trash? SCMP 19th September 2018
10. More than 17 million pieces of plastic waste flushed into sea via Hong Kong’s Shing Mun River each year SCMP 18th October 2018
11. Refund Hongkongers 20 HK cents per plastic bottle and watch city’s dismal recycling rate rise, green group says after trial SCMP 28th October 2018
12. Hong Kong’s cutting-edge treatment plants aren’t enough: reduced waste should be on all of our Christmas lists SCMP 24th December 2018
13. Industrial waste in landfills up a fifth as China-bound rubbish piles high in Hong Kong SCMP 24th December 2018
14. Seas around Hong Kong swamped in microplastics as city’s obsession with unnecessary packaging leads to 11-fold increase in pollution, study shows SCMP 14th March 2019
15. Hong Kong sixth out of 13 in Asia-Pacific green rankings but the city could do better, particularly in cutting waste SCMP 20th April 2019
16. Hong Kong can’t wait any longer for a waste charging scheme SCMP 6th November 2020

This article was first posted on 23rd January 2018.

Related Indhhk articles:

1. Waste disposal in Hong Kong – 1997 article
2. Night soil collection in Hong Kong – updated – four current locations, July 2016
3. Swire BFI Waste Services Ltd – opening of third transfer station in Shatin