"If they had advised the public (to recycle), the city would have saved at least some resources and reduced some waste." Over the past year Hong Kong has generated a colossal amount of disposable plastic waste from quarantine hotels and isolation facilities, which is not recycled due to fear of contamination. The city's three landfills are almost at capacity as waste management has lagged mainland China and cities like Singapore, and Taiwan, even before Covid-19. The government said in an email response to Reuters that it was "reasonable to expect" a surge in disposable waste, such as masks, RATs and disposable plastic tableware. Official figures show a 33 percent rise in plastic disposables in 2020 with environmentalists expecting waste to have surged further since 2021 as authorities grapple to implement a "Dynamic zero" Covid strategy.

Source: The Standard April 29, 2022 14:18 UTC