What you need to know about Hong Kong’s coming waste-charging scheme, from where to get bags and how to save money

The Post has prepared a guide to the scheme and what residents need to know.

1. Where can I buy bags and how much do they cost?

From the end of January, members of the public will be able to buy the garbage bags from about 3,000 authorised sale points in stages. These include places such as supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies.

Under the charge-per-bag arrangement, residents will pay 11 HK cents (1 US cent) for each litre of garbage they throw away. The smallest bags, with a capacity of 3 litres (0.8 gallons), will start at 30 HK cents each, rising to HK$1.70 for a 15-litre bag and HK$11 for the largest 100-litre bags. The bags will be available in nine different sizes.

In 2021, Hongkongers sent about 1.53kg (3.4lbs) of garbage each to landfills every day, according to official statistics. A household that produces 15 litres of garbage per day can expect to spend about HK$52 per month on the bags.

A 50-piece roll of regular 15-litre garbage bags currently costs HK$18, or 36 cents per bag, on retailer HKTVmall’s website.

Retailers will also be able to sell the authorised bags at the checkout for customers to carry their purchases in a bid to encourage reuse, on top of the option to buy a regular plastic bag or use their own carrier.

Housing estate property management offices and residents’ organisations will also be able to purchase the bags in bulk to sell to residents, and can apply to do so via an online platform managed by the Environmental Protection Department. It said it had received about 6,300 such applications since January 15.

2. How can I pay less?

As the scheme is based on a polluter-pays principle, the simplest way to reduce costs is to filter out recyclable materials, such as plastic bottles and boxes, aluminium cans, and glass bottles, and dispose of them separately in recycling bins.

Recyclable materials do not need to be disposed of in the approved bags.

Hong Kong’s community recycling network currently operates over 170 collection points across the city, covering nine types of common recyclables. The points include 34 recycling stores and over 130 once-a-week kerbside collection booths.

Another option is to recycle food waste by separating it from any non-food waste, draining it of liquid, and taking it to special food waste bins at designated collection points.

As of September 2023, 100 blocks in public rental housing estates had smart food-recycling bins installed. Food waste collection services are available at 70 estates, and there are expansion plans to cover all public rental housing estates in 2024.

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3. What happens if I don’t comply?

There will be a six-month grace period after the scheme takes effect, during which people who fail to comply will mostly be given verbal warnings.

After this time, people who fail to use the designated bags or labels will face a fixed penalty of HK$1,500. Serious or repeat offenders could be prosecuted and face fines between HK$25,000 and HK$50,000, and up to six months’ jail.

Anyone who causes another person to commit the offence, such as an employer instructing a domestic helper to dispose of waste in a non-compliant manner, will also be held responsible.

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But observers and stakeholder groups have raised concerns over apparent loopholes and grey areas in the law, such as how property managers and cleaners should deal with improperly packed trash in residential blocks with communal waste disposal points or garbage chutes and households that breach the rules.

While the scheme is primarily targeted at households, cleaning contractors or workers can also be held responsible if they do not make sure waste is properly packed in the authorised bags before handing it over to garbage trucks or collection points.

Environment minister Tse Chin-wan on Tuesday said officers would be empowered to enter residential buildings to carry out enforcement action, though he did not elaborate on how this would be done.

4. What about big items such as furniture?

Bulky items that cannot fit into one of the authorised bags need to be affixed with a designated label before being taken to garbage collection points for disposal. The labels cost a flat rate of HK$11 each.

Conversely, the designated garbage bags do not need to be used for small amounts of personal trash generated while outside or in public, and people can dispose of these in public bins as they normally would.

But using public trash cans to circumvent the waste-charging scheme is forbidden, and members of the public who dispose of their household garbage illegally in public bins may be fined HK$3,000.

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5. Do I get a grace period?

Besides the six-month grace period on enforcement action, the government has said households in public rental estates, rural areas and residential blocks with no owners’ corporations will get free bags for six months to help residents adjust to the scheme. It has so far not taken up suggestions to expand the free bag distribution.

Some building management committees have come up with private plans to help their residents adjust, such as distributing the bags to residents for the first few months and passing on the costs in the form of management fees.

On Tuesday, Tse, the environment minister, also floated a suggestion to give primary school pupils a 15-litre version of the new bags to bring home to help raise awareness.

The environment ministry is expected to announce more measures to help drive publicity in the next few months, following Lee’s instructions to ramp up awareness as the clock ticks down to April 1.

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6. Is the scheme fair to everyone?

Disability rights and patient campaign groups have warned that the new rules are unfair to Hongkongers who need to use large amounts of disposable medical supplies to manage conditions.

A recent survey of 180 respondents by the Direction Association for the Handicapped, spanning people with severe physical disabilities or chronic conditions and carers, found that more than 90 per cent of them needed to use disposable medical supplies, such as wound dressings and cotton balls.

Nearly 30 per cent said they needed to use more than five 5-litre garbage bags per day for their waste-disposal needs. Under the new scheme, this would add up to over HK$90 per month in garbage bag costs.

Campaigners have argued the costs are an extra financial burden on people who may already be struggling with significant living expenses. But the Environmental Protection Department has so far declined to explore exemptions, saying that this would undermine the polluter-pays principle of the scheme and pose enforcement challenges.