Pay-as-you-throw waste charging scheme indefinitely postponed: sources

The pay-as-you-throw waste charging scheme will not proceed as planned starting August 1 and neither will the government set an exact date for implementation, according to sources. 

Sources also said authorities will continue to distribute the designated rubbish bags to public housing tenants for another six months free of charge for the public to adapt to the change. 

The government will give out the designated bags to private buildings on conditions as well and will continue to step up relevant recycling facilities. 

This came as the Environment and Ecology Bureau will submit a full report on the pilot program of the scheme to the Legislative Council tomorrow (Mon). 

The pilot program earlier covered a total of 14 premises, including public housing estates, restaurants, elderly homes, and the West Kowloon Government Offices. 

It is expected that the government will also announce tomorrow whether it will roll out the scheme as scheduled. 

Lawmaker Edward Lau Kwok-fan, chair of the LegCo panel on environmental affairs, said the government can keep the main body of the legislation and only remove the by-laws on the implementation date. 

The scheme can be rolled out once the economy performs better and community recycling facilities have been upgraded, he also said. Charging is just a means and the idea behind is to promote recycling and waste reduction, he noted. 

Lau also supported the government to continue to give out designated bags to public housing tenants for free, adding that it will be a better arrangement compared to just keeping them in the storage. 

On the other hand, Roundtable lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said the government should roll out the scheme as planned on August 1. 

He proposes authorities distribute the designated trash bags for free for a year and mandate the public to use the official bags. At the same time, the government can introduce a one-year grace period that it won’t initiated any prosecutions and will only issue citizens notices for relevant breaches. 

Tien pointed out that many citizens don’t know that they won’t be fined if they do their part in recycling, attributing this to insufficient government promotions. 

(Updated at 7.34pm)