They're rubbish!

Street cleaners are worried about a heavier cleaning burden with the introduction of the newly designed rubbish bins across the city, as they said people may end up discarding trash next to the bins as the openings seem to be narrower.

This came as the Environmental Protection Department is testing more than 300 orange-colored bins with rounded tops and oval-shaped holes, which it says are similar in size to those of the old ones.

But street cleaners said the capacity and the hole of the bins seem smaller, which may cause trouble for them.

One cleaner said she is worried about a heavier cleaning burden: "For example, people can discard two lunch boxes stacked together into the original bins, but the hole of the new bins only allows them to discard one lunch box at a time. "People may just discard the rubbish near the bin if they find it difficult to put it inside."

She also said she has to empty the bins more frequently now because they have become slimmer with a smaller capacity.

But there are also advantages of the new bins, she said, as the new cover opens on the side. This means she doesn't have to lift the heavy cover off to clean the bin.

Vice chairwoman of the Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Staff Rights Union Li Mei-siu added that the side cover may require more time for cleaners to open and lock the cover. The new bins are also equipped with extractable ashtrays on the top, but Li said cleaners have to pay extra attention to prevent ash from falling back into the bin when cleaning it out.

She added that the new bins in Sham Shui Po are often full, which increases the frequency of cleaners replacing the bags.

The department responded to media enquiry and said that it will evaluate whether the design of new bins should be improved and submit the final design drawing to relevant government departments after all the tests are finished.

The government has also earlier announced that it will begin its new waste-charging scheme on April 1 next year and will gradually reduce the number of rubbish bins on the street.

"Reducing the number of rubbish bins does not mean that citizens will reduce the amount of rubbish they discard," Li said, urging the government to take measures to prevent citizens from illegally disposing of garbage after the new scheme takes effect.