Enforcement 'the key'

Jonathan Wong Woon-Chung, professor emeritus of biology at Hong Kong Baptist University, called on the government to implement the waste-charging program as soon as possible.

He said the city's limited progress in waste recycling was due to people's longstanding reliance on the government handling trash. Legal enforcement of the new program is the quickest way to change people's mindsets and habits, Wong said, adding "imperfect" regulations should not be used as an excuse to further delay implementation of the program.

He cited South Korean capital Seoul as an example of what can be achieved through such a system. Seoul has introduced a volume-based waste charging system, which has reduced waste by one-third since it started in 1995.

"Hong Kong cannot afford more delays in waste management as the city is running out of landfills," Wong warned.

Yeung, from the restaurant federation, said eateries could reduce the number of prepaid bags they would need by recycling their food waste. However, he added there are not enough facilities to process the city's massive amount of kitchen waste.

The city has around 18,000 eateries. But to date, the government had established only 80 food-waste recycling points, which falls far short of the restaurants' needs, Yeung said. Small eateries also lack the manpower to recycle food waste on their own, he added.

The government should team up with private waste collectors to sort and transport restaurants' kitchen waste to better prepare catering businesses for the introduction of waste charging, he said.

The federation has long coordinated with recyclers to help restaurants deal with food waste, glass bottles and cardboard, Yeung said. It has also cooperated with suppliers to cut packaging materials.