Advertisement

Experts propose ways to make Hong Kong a green metropolis

Electric cars, better waste management among suggestions presented by experts at a Post seminar looking at how city can ensure a brighter future

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Illustration: Henry Wong

Using more electric vehicles, preserving country parks and improving waste management were among ways to ease Hong Kong's pollution problems put forward at a seminar yesterday.

The ideas came from a panel of experts put together by the South China Morning Post for the latest in its "Redefining Hong Kong" series.

One of the speakers, Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing, set out how the government planned to tackle waste issues by introducing charges for disposal and building incinerators.

He said that with a waste recycling rate of just 48 per cent, Hong Kong lagged behind regional neighbours such as South Korea, where 60 per cent of waste was recycled and 20 per cent turned into energy.

Wong said waste incinerators were needed to reduce the use of landfills.

Because Hong Kong did not have much farmland where food waste could be recycled, incinerators were needed to turn it into energy, he told the 150 people at the seminar.

Advertisement