Letters | Does recycling in Hong Kong have to be a financial burden?
Readers discuss the costs involved in recycling, a recent football event, and a kind gesture by Cathay Pacific
Despite the continuous efforts of the government to reduce waste, the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) hit a high of 11,358 tonnes per day or 1.53kg per person per day in 2021.
The good news is that the per capita waste disposal rate has started to drop since. In 2023, the quantity of MSW disposed was 10,884 tonnes per day or 1.44kg per person per day. The government said it was because people were recycling more.
It is generally true that recycling is more environmentally friendly than disposing of waste in landfills. However, it is also true, if less well known, that recycling low-density materials such as plastics and small waste streams like glass and yard waste is more costly.
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan recently explained in a blog post that the recycling process for styrofoam costs tens of thousands of dollars per tonne.
We found that the cost of recycling one tonne of plastic drink bottles through a Stage 1 reverse vending machine was about HK$33,333, and each tonne of materials recycled through the popular recycling stores costs HK$10,656. In comparison, sending one tonne of waste to landfill costs HK$272 only.