Hong Kong Landfill Problem Essay Example

Tsang was satisfied and pointed out that incineration was environmental friendly, effective and sustainable (9).

On the other hand, some environmental protection organizations propose to implement the “Pay-as-you-throw” system (PAYT), with Taipei as a successful role model for Hong Kong to follow. According to the definition provided by the USA Environmental Protection Agency (2011), residents are charged for the collection of ordinary household trash based on the amount they throw away (1). The aims of this system are to reduce waste and increase the recycling rate. Take Taipei as example, when people want to dispose their ubbish, they need to buy authorized plastic bags from the government and use them as the containers of rubbish. The garbage trucks of the government only collect the rubbish packed in these plastic bags. Under this system, the effect on waste reduction is significant. “Taipei wins global recognition for its recycling program” (2011) remarks that the waste volume at the Shanchuku landfill in Nangang District reduce from 2501 tons per day in 1994 to 59 tons per day in 2009 (5). Taipei has implemented the system since 2000, but it can change the consumption routine of Taipei citizens completely in 1 decade.

Besides waste reduction, the recycling rate has a significant increase too. According to “Recycling: Taiwan’s Way of Life” (2010), the recycling rate surged from 6% to 32% from 1998 to 2008 (3). PATY is a sustainable waste reduction policy which can reduce the harm to the environment at the same time reduce the cost in waste treatment. Some people have the thought to send rubbish to the third-world countries. This may be another possible solution

for Hong Kong, as the land resources in Hong Kong is rare and valuable, it can save the space for building landfills. However this plan is not possible.

The cost of transportation of rubbish is too high for Hong Kong citizens to bear. According to “Monitoring of Solid Waste in Hong Kong – Waste Statistics for 2010” (2011) ,13817 tons of rubbish are required to dispose on landfills every day (p. 7). This is an enormous number of rubbish to transport, and the waste needs special treatments in order to prevent leaking and polluting the marine environment. Also, this method is irresponsible. Although the developing countries receive money for the waste treatment, the waste may cause environment problem or even pollute the food source of local people.

People in developing countries may not be aware of the consequences of waste disposal in their area, as they only consider whether they can get food to survive. Environmental protection is a luxury for them. This may cause deep-rooted and irreversible effects to the countries. Developed cities should help developing countries, but not to increase their burden and exploit their rights. When we look deep into incineration, is incineration effective to reduce the pressure on landfills? In fact, this is only a shortsighted measure omparing with the PATY system. When incinerators are built, people will consider the problem solved and ignore the problem for a long time. However, this will only increase people’s reliance on incinerators. Lau (2008) observes the situation in Singapore and points out that the citizens in Singapore need to bear a high financial burden on incineration (4). Singapore overlooks the importance of

waste reduction and keeps on building incinerators to satisfy the increasing waste volume every 5 to 7 years.

They need to spend at least HK$8 billion to build an incinerator, and the operating cost of each incinerators costs over HK$250 million per year. The geographical size of Singapore is smaller than Hong Kong, but it already has built 4 incinerators. The cost is too high for Hong Kong to bear and it is very difficult to choose a suitable place to build the incinerators. The residents near the planned incinerators area may oppose strongly and delay the implementation of incineration plan with laws. Also, we cannot keep on building incinerators to cope with the increasing waste volume in our society.

We need to find a sustainable and long-term measure which focuses on waste reduction to reduce the usage of landfills, and the most effective way should be the implementation of PATY system. The effectiveness of PAYT system is listed above, and Taipei has even won global recognition on its waste policies. However, some people may worry about the illegal dumping of rubbish. People may want to escape from the fee of rubbish collection and dump their rubbish with other methods illegally. However, the USA Environmental Protection Agency (2011) reports that illegal dumping is not common after the implementation (2).

People may dump the rubbish on roadsides or burn it in the countryside. Nevertheless, with strict laws like heavy penalty, people may not spend time and effort to perform illegal dumping. The cost of an authorized plastic bag is just several Hong Kong Dollars. The cost of gasoline in driving a car and

the effort in burning the smell rubbish may be even higher. Also, if illegal dumping is suspected, they need to pay thousands of dollars for the penalty. People may not want to bear the risk. The ways for them to reduce the fee on rubbish disposal is to reduce waste and recycle.

The cooperation between the government and the public can increase the effectiveness of the system. The implementation of “Pay-as-you-throw” system can reduce the pressure on landfills in a sustainable and low-cost way. We need to consider our next generation and should not solve the problem by shortsighted solution like incineration. The cause of landfill saturation is the wasteful and luxurious consumption styles of Hong Kong citizens. We should focus on the cause but not keep on solving the problem with our valuable resources. Exploitation to other countries is also not suitable. Change ourselves and go for a better future.