HONG KONG, May 20
(Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong city
government unveiled a 10-year management
plan to tackle its waste crisis
on Monday, in which it admitted
that Hong Kong needs to make
more efforts so as to catch up
with the best-in-class places such as
Taipei and South Korean
cities.
The plan -- The Hong
Kong: Blueprint for Sustainable Use of
Resources 2013-2022 -- analyzes the
challenges and opportunities for waste
management in Hong Kong, and maps
out strategies, targets, policies and
action plans.
Hong Kong's
daily per capita domestic waste
generation rate is high when compared
to cities in Asia at stages of
economic development similar to ours,
according to the
blueprint.
"Hong Kong needs to
catch up with the best-in-class cities
although we have a way to go.
Our job is to set Hong Kong
and our citizens on that path
now so that by 2022, the targets
we have set in the Action
Blueprint can be met."
Speaking
at a press conference, Secretary for
the Environment of the Hong Kong
government K S Wong said the
plan will reduce the per capita
municipal solid waste disposal rate by
40 percent to 0.8 kg by 2022. The rate
was 1.27 kg per day in 2011, and
the target for 2017 is one
kg.
"This is an ambitious
target but it is also practical.
The key to success lies in
motivation," he said.
Wong said
a joint effort by the entire
community will be needed to embrace
an environmentally sustainable culture and
waste less of the Earth's
resources.
The blueprint proposes
policies and actions in three areas.
Policy and legislation, including municipal
solid waste charges and producer
responsibility schemes, aim to drive
behavioral change to reduce waste at
source.
City-wide campaigns, such
as the Food Wise Hong Kong
Campaign launched last Saturday, will
discourage food waste and encourage
recycling.
Waste-related infrastructure,
including organic waste treatment facilities,
waste-to-energy integrated waste management
facilities and landfill extensions, will
be enhanced.
The blueprint also
aims for a more balanced structure
for waste management, as opposed to
the current practice of relying solely
on landfills.
"We will
encourage the public to reuse and
recycle. Unavoidable waste will be
turned into energy by modern
technology while disposal at landfills
will be the last resort," Wong
said.
The Hong Kong government
expects that by 2022, waste recycling,
modern incineration and landfill disposal
in Hong Kong will account for 55
percent, 23 percent and 22 percent of
waste management respectively, more closely
matching the allocation structure widely
adopted in advanced economies, he
said.