Nearly waste paper siege, Hong Kong urgently needs a new environmental protection policy

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Written by: Commentary Editing Room

2021-01-04 17:00

Last update date: 2021-01-04 17:04

The so-called new year and new weather, the mainland has banned plastic drinking cans nationwide at the beginning of 2021, banned the import of waste paper, and Guangdong has revised the domestic waste management regulations. A series of new environmental protection policies show that the mainland is determined to move towards an environmentally friendly life.

This is in stark contrast to Hong Kong, which has almost gone through a waste paper siege and is rather passive on environmental issues.

The mainland originally planned to ban the import of waste paper from this year, causing serious chaos in Hong Kong, where 90% of the waste paper is exported.

Although there is no danger in the end, the Mainland is temporarily willing to set up special arrangements to allow Hong Kong to receive local waste paper from four large recycling paper mills in Guangdong Province before its own pulp mill is completed in 2024. However, the crisis of the waste paper siege is not It does not reveal the passiveness and potential crisis of Hong Kong on waste recycling and environmental protection issues.

During the crisis, waste paper recyclers have tried to contact Southeast Asian manufacturers to receive waste paper. Because of the increased cost of transporting waste paper from Europe and the United States to Southeast Asia under the epidemic, it has become the trend of Hong Kong's waste paper export to Southeast Asia. However, it is better to ask for yourself and rely on others. There are considerable risks and uncertainties.

Therefore, the crisis of the waste paper siege should really alert Hong Kong people not only whether waste paper exports are resolved, but also the Hong Kong society's ability to dispose of waste and promote environmental protection.

It is understood that the Hong Kong Government has reached an agreement with the Mainland to allow these 17 contractors to connect with 4 paper mills in the Mainland.

(Photo/Photo by Li Zetong)

Food waste and papermaking have failed

At present, Guangdong Province has built a total of 172 domestic waste treatment facilities with a total daily processing capacity of 149,000 tons, making the domestic waste treatment capacity far exceed the amount of domestic waste generated.

However, Hong Kong's road to the construction of waste disposal projects is quite bumpy.

In July 2011, the government launched the "Housing Estates Food Waste Recycling Funding Scheme" to subsidize the installation of food waste treatment facilities in housing estates. However, so far only 36 housing estates have participated, making the food waste recovery rate in Hong Kong only about 2%.

The environmental protection park in Tuen Mun, which is closely related to this waste paper treatment, awarded a paper mill contract. However, the contractor was unfinished and a new tender was required in the first half of 2021.

Why are these projects to strengthen Hong Kong's waste disposal capacity and autonomy frequently blocked? Is it because the industry lacks incentives or the government lacks courage in its promotion?

The government must sum up these failed experiences, find the crux of the problem, and strengthen Hong Kong's ability to self-dispose of garbage in order to avoid the next crisis of food waste siege and plastic siege.

In sharp contrast to Hong Kong is a series of new environmental protection policies in the Mainland. These measures not only show that the Mainland is more proactive than the Hong Kong government in promoting environmental protection, but the new perception of environmental protection reflected behind it is more worthy of reflection by the Hong Kong government.

Take the newly revised "Regulations on the Management of Urban and Rural Domestic Waste in Guangdong Province" implemented by Guangdong Province on January 1, 2021 as an example.

On the one hand, the "new" amendment regulations further clarify the different responsible persons and relevant penalties in each step of waste treatment, and more detailed and accurate supervision of waste sorting and treatment, avoiding the classified release that the society is worried about, but mixed collection, Fake environmental protection issues handled by the carrier.

On the other hand, the "new" of the regulations is more reflected in their environmental protection thinking. Compared with the previous task of classifying waste into a certain group or link, the new regulations clearly focus on the whole, that is, focus on the coordination and progress of the environmental protection chain and society. Overall participation.

However, the difficulties of Hong Kong's garbage recycling are also being feared by the government. Even the producer responsibility system is difficult to promote. 15 years later, the plan is still "preparing to implement".

Therefore, when considering environmental protection policies, Hong Kong should explore the responsibilities of each link and role more comprehensively, and impose corresponding penalties, just like the new regulations of Guangdong Province, to ensure that the society participates in the promotion of environmental protection.

Of course, the measures in the Mainland are not perfect. People in Shanghai and Guangdong and other places have raised the issue of insufficient garbage sorting bins and difficulty in opening hours to match the lives of residents.

However, the Mainland's initiative in promoting environmental protection is worthy of emulation. Hong Kong can also learn from the first experience of the Mainland, take the essence and discard the dross, and promote Hong Kong's environmental protection in the new year.

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