【明報專訊】THE MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW) CHARGING SCHEME will come into force on 1 April. However, the property management industry, owners' corporations and the general public are full of questions about it.
According to the ''Monitoring of Solid Waste in Hong Kong 2022'' report published by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) earlier, the average daily amount of waste disposal by Hong Kong people dropped slightly from the previous year (2021), but it still amounted to 1.51 kilogrammes. Over the course of a year, that would translate into half a tonne per capita. As for the quantity of solid waste discarded in landfills, it rose by 1.2% from the previous year to 5.74 million tonnes. The amount of plastic discarded every day increased by 1.6%
year-on-year to 2,369 tonnes, the highest on record.
With Hong Kong nearly running out of landfill capacity, a drastic solution is needed, which is the waste reduction at source. The MSW charging scheme is a manifestation of the ''polluter pays'' principle and is an important means of waste reduction at source. Taiwan, South Korea and other regions have had a lot of successful experience in this regard. Lamentably, Hong Kong has been lagging behind in this area.
As early as 2004, the SAR government had proposed the concept of waste charging, but not until August 2021 was a draft bill on MSW charging adopted. Back then, the government, citing the need to help citizens and different sectors familiarise themselves with the procedure, set up an 18-month ''preparation period''. Later, the government decided to extend the period at the suggestion of the industry, further postponing the date of implementation until 1 April this year. Counting from the day the bill was passed, it took a total of 32 months. In theory, the government should have had plenty of time to coordinate with different industry stakeholders. It should have come up with different types of supporting measures and publicity and public awareness campaigns. However, it has turned out not to be the case.
The EPD recommends that the property management industry prepare in two stages. In the first stage, it should negotiate with stakeholders such as owners' organisations and cleaning contractors on the details of implementation, such as specific charging methods, reviewing the number of rubbish bins in common areas and ways to deal with fly-tipping. In the second stage, it should help frontline staff and residents make preparations, including formulating codes and guidelines and conducting publicity and public awareness campaigns for residents.
Nevertheless, an industry survey conducted by the Property Management Services Authority earlier shows that, although the vast majority of the property management companies surveyed stated that they had followed the EPD's recommendations, just around 10% of them had reached a consensus with those they served on the handling of matters such as illegal waste disposal and the related cost sharing. With less than three months to go before the implementation of the charging scheme, whether property management companies can prepare in time is still uncertain.
The MSW charging scheme affects all Hong Kong citizens and a large number of stakeholders. It is crucial to ensure that the specific details are properly taken care of. The mentality that things will take care of themselves in the end will definitely result in big problems. It is necessary to question whether the government has made good use of the past two years or so to prepare for the scheme. In any case, there is not much time left before the enactment of the scheme. The government must help the property management industry solve implementation problems as soon as possible and tell the public and different stakeholders clearly what to do. It should not just shift all responsibilities onto the industry and the public.
明報社評 2024.01.04：垃圾徵費準備惹人憂 豈會船到橋頭自然直
垃圾徵費4月1日實施，無論物管業界、業主法團或是一般市民，都有很多疑惑。
環保署早前公布《2022年都市固體廢物監察報告》，港人日均棄置廢物量雖比前年稍為回落，但仍多達1.51公斤，一年下來就是人人半噸，至於棄置堆填區的都市固體廢物量，則較前年上升1.2%，達574萬公噸；每日塑膠棄置量按年增加1.6%至2369公噸，更是有紀錄以來最高。
堆填區面臨飽和，釜底抽薪，必須源頭減廢。垃圾徵費體現「污者自付」原則，是源頭減廢重要手段，台灣、韓國等地不乏成功經驗，可惜香港在這方面卻姍姍來遲。
早於2004年，特區政府已提出垃圾徵費概念，惟拖至2021年8月，垃圾徵費條例草案才通過。當時政府以「方便市民和各界習慣流程」為名，設了18個月「準備期」，其後又因業界意見決定延長「準備期」，等到今年4月1日才實施，屈指一算，距離條例通過之日，足足有32個月。理論上，政府應該有相當充裕的時間，與業界不同持份者協調，做好各項配套準備和公眾宣傳教育工作，然而現實卻是另一回事。
環保署建議物管業界分兩階段做準備，首階段包括與業主組織、清潔承辦商等商定執行細節，諸如具體收費方法、檢討公用地方垃圾箱數量、若有垃圾違規棄置該當如何處理等；次階段則是協助前線員工及戶主做好準備，包括制定守則指引、向戶主做好宣傳教育等。
可是物管業監管局早前向業界所做的問卷調查卻顯示，儘管絕大部分受訪物管公司均表示有跟進環保署的建議，但是已就違規垃圾處置及相關費用攤分等事宜，跟服務對象達成共識者，僅得一成左右。現時離徵費實施不足3個月，物管公司能否及時做好準備，實屬未知之數。
垃圾徵費牽涉全港市民及大量持份者，具體細節安排妥當與否，至關重要，抱着「船到橋頭自然直」的心態處理，結果一定出大事。政府有否善用過去兩年多的時間作準備，有必要商榷。無論如何，現在距離徵費實施，所餘時間已無多，政府必須協助物管業界盡快解決執行問題、清楚告訴市民和不同持份者該當怎樣做，而不是將所有責任推給業界和市民。
■/ Glossary 生字 /
come into force：(of a law, rule, etc.) to start being used
fly-tipping：the practice of leaving waste somewhere illegally
the vast majority (of something)：used when you want to emphasise that something is true about almost all of a group of people or things