Hong Kong's 'pay-as-you-throw' waste disposal put on hold

Cleaner Lau Mui-chun, 69, breathed a sigh of relief last month after hearing that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government had decided to shelve the city's waste-charging program, which it had already postponed twice.

Lau looks after 34 levels of a residential building in Kowloon, cleaning the corridors and trash room on every floor, and carrying household waste to the garbage collection point on ground level.

A cleaner for over 30 years, she understands that the "pay-as-you-throw" program is a key initiative for the city's waste reduction, which will eventually cut her own workload. Yet her anxieties escalated as Aug 1, the official implementation date for the program, approached.

Lau found that she knew little about the program, let alone what she should do if someone does not comply with the new regulations — such as refusing to put waste in prepaid rubbish bags for disposal.

"My company has never offered any guidance, and no organization has reached out to us to explain relevant policies," Lau said, adding that all her knowledge about the program comes from talking with colleagues who garnered most of their information from TV programs.

Even cleaning workers who took part in an eight-week trial run, which covered 14 buildings, nursing homes and restaurants, told a government survey that they needed more time to adapt to the program. They also said they were worried about potential conflicts if residents did not follow the regulations.