WHERE WE NEED TO GET TO

The final goal is for the circular economy to replace the current make-use-dispose model – We need to re-conceptualise waste as being a resource that can create new value, so that we are less dependent on new resources and inputs. To devise creative waste management solutions, the government needs to be more proactive in pushing forward policies and regulations, and create positive synergy between itself, the business sector, and local communities.

Part of our difficulty has been that Hong Kong does not have a ‘complete economy’ and so needs better co-operation with Mainland China if it is to recycle. For example, we import drinks in glass bottles from the Mainland rather than manufacture them in Hong Kong. Initiatives to send, clean glass from used bottles back to China so they can used to manufacture new have been thwarted by China’s restrictions on importing waste.