Transferring plastic waste services 'won't harm recycling rate'

Marcus Lum

The Environmental Protection Department is confident that transferring plastic recycling services to Green@Community will not negatively impact the recycling rate, which saw an increase of 2 to 3 percent - reaching 14 percent last year.

The department confirmed that Green@Community will continue to provide plastic recycling services to the public, as well as take on additional recycling responsibilities starting January 19.

Steve Wong Chi-wah, the Assistant Director of Environmental Protection in Waste Management, said the new arrangement will ensure the public's recycling experience remains unchanged - citizens can continue to place recyclables in designated bins and exchange points at Green@Community recycling stations - while reducing related costs by 24 percent compared to the pilot scheme.

He said that the operating organizations for Green@Community will take over plastic collection services from estates under the "Centralized Waste Plastics Collection" pilot scheme, allowing them to collect plastics and other recyclables from these locations.

"In the past, the pilot schemes required separate contractors to collect plastics, while metals, paper and other recyclables were collected by Green@Community, necessitating two separate collection trips," Wong said.

He added that the new arrangement aims to eliminate overlapping recycling services.

To further enhance efficiency, Green@Community will engage with various housing estates to arrange collections based on specific needs, thereby reducing instances of "empty collection trips."

Wong also said that the department has explored waste-to-materials methods with several recyclers, leading to innovative ways to process lower-value plastics into more valuable products like eco-bricks and noise barriers.

marcus.lum@singtaonewscorp.com