Hong Kong’s waste charging scheme ‘disturbing’, trial finds

Hong Kong's pay-as-you-throw waste scheme has caused disturbance to the public and is too costly, according to findings of a trial gathered by the Environment and Ecology Bureau.

The government began testing its postponed waste-charging scheme in April with a trial at more than a dozen premises, followed by a survey exercise to collect public opinions from participants.

In a report submitted to LegCo, the bureau said participants of the trial reflected that the scheme caused a disturbance to residents and would incur a high cost.

The report also noted that during the trial period, the usage of the designated garbage bags in  "three-nil" buildings was only about 20 percent, followed by a 20 to 50 percent usage at both public and private housing. The usage rate decreased over time, it added.

Separately, cleaners who work at the participating premises told the survey that the scheme has burdened their workload.

The document failed to account for whether the waste-charging scheme would be implemented as scheduled in August, after twice being postponed.