Introduction:

The waste problem is always a big challenge and concern for affluent countries. When people become richer, they tend to consume more to achieve greater convenience and better living standards, however at the same time the waste they generate keep increasing.

There are three common types of solid waste in Hong Kong, they are: 1) municipal solid waste, which refers to the waste generated from domestic, commercial and industrial activities; (2) construction waste, which arises from construction, renovation and demolition activities and (3) special waste, which includes chemical waste, livestock waste and sewage sludge. […]

The objectives of this report are to examine the effectiveness of implementing a Municipal Solid Waste Charging Scheme under “polluter-pay” principle for solid waste management in Hong Kong, and to provide recommendations to make it more comprehensive.

The first part of the report will study the public’s feedback about the “Polluter-pays” principle of the municipal solid waste charging scheme. Then the upside and downside of the scheme - the problems that may arise after implementing the policy- will be analyzed. The third part of the report will take examples from other countries who are successful in this matter and suggest alternatives to alleviate this issue. A discussion on whether the principle is the most suitable measure to reduce waste for Hong Kong will be included at the end.

Introduce the topic with background information.

Define the major terms/concepts.

State the objective(s) of the project.

Provide a preview for the subsequent contents of the report.

2. Literature Review

In this part, the discussion will be divided into two sections: (1) reduction of solid waste generation and (2) solid waste treatment. The first section discusses strategies for recycling solid waste and recovering resources to attain the goal of reducing solid waste generation. The second section compares different solid waste treatment to determine the best option according to Hong Kong’s situation. Both sections are indispensable for establishing a comprehensive solid waste management scheme.

2.1 Reduction of solid waste generation

Hong Kong has much room for improvement to develop her recycling industry. According to the Environmental Protection Department (2017), the overall recovery rate of municipal solid waste was 34% in 2016, which decreased 1% compared to 2015. The municipal solid waste disposed of to the landfills in 2016 was composed of food waste (35%), paper (22%), plastics (21%), glass (3%), metals (2%), other putrescible (7%) and others (11%) (ibid.). This shows that Hong Kong has not achieved her greatest potential for the reduction of solid waste generation by recycling, as common recyclables such as paper and plastics still cover a large portion of its total solid waste disposal. It is suggested that recycling is the most preferable solution to Hong Kong as solid waste disposal is composed of a great amount of paper and plastics (Yadav & Samadder, 2018).

Provide a context for the later discussion.

Describe the historical development and current state of the topic.

Citations (underlined)

* These examples use the APA format. Please consult your lecturer for his/her preferred citation format

Literature Review

Zhu and Zhao’s (2015) literature studied the origin and the development of “Polluter Pays” Principle (PPP). They state that this principle was introduced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in the 1970s, with the first consideration of this charging scheme being allocation of costs for pollution prevention and control measures. They suggest that there are some shortcomings of the principle –mainly the principle is so broad that different interpretations appear-- like the words “polluter” and “acceptable state” are not well-defined. […] Zhu and Zhao’s (2015) article also specifically discussed the PPP and waste management in Hong Kong and the critical factors of why PPP was not as successfully implemented as the other cities. They suggest that it is mainly due to Hong Kong adopting a conservative implementation approach—only enforced in selected areas with costs just partially internalized, and without establishment of legislation.

Despite the above, Zhu and Zhao (2015) see progress and improvement so they still maintain a positive outlook for the use of PPP in Hong Kong […]

Nevertheless, contrary to Zhu and Zhao’s opinions, since Hong Kong is a small but densely populated city compared to other countries, the conditions are somehow different, and the measures used should not be exactly the same as those successful countries. As a starting point, a more conventional approach is more suitable for Hong Kong, it gives room for the government to make an adjustment by reviewing regularly and referring to other countries (Lee et al.2016). Through continuous improvement, the most feasible schemes for waste reduction in Hong Kong can be created.

There is little discussion on the advantages of PPP, successful examples of PPP, and the difficulties a country may encounter during its implementation in the literature. Thus, other than the basic information of PPP, this report is going to investigate further in these three aspect[s] to see both the strengths and weaknesses of the principle and how to better apply the principle in Hong Kong.

Indicate and describe related previous studies and scholars’ chief contributions.

Indicate and describe related previous studies and scholars’ chief attitudes/opinions/contributions.

Evaluate / compare and contrast ideas in previous studies, and outline the author’s approach.

Recommendations

After reviewing the waste management policy and solid waste treatment adopted by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, it is found that all of them have been reducing their solid waste disposal mainly by reduction of solid waste generation through recycling. They all share the same vision of replacing landfills with incinerators as their final solid waste treatment. As Hong Kong faces a similar challenge with her neighboring countries – lack of sufficient flat land for waste management, the strategies adopted by them are most likely applicable to Hong Kong. […]

[…]

Reduction of solid waste generation

Japan has adopted a different policy principle to reduce her solid waste disposal when compared with South Korea and Taiwan. The former has chosen to mobilize their citizens through legislation which addresses stakeholders from the upper social hierarchy – local governments and businessmen, while the latter has chosen to use a charging system to incentivize citizens’ participation in recycling.

Nevertheless, the success of the policies adopted by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan will never be achieved without public education, which teaches the citizens how to categorize the recyclables and how to treat them before disposal. Therefore, Hong Kong should plan ahead by starting to educate our next generations the correct procedures for recycling. […]

Apart from education, sufficient recycling facilities are essential to the success of the policies. At present, recycling bins are accessible to more than 80% of Hong Kong residents (Environment Bureau, 2013). Hong Kong should keep on increasing the accessibility of recycling bins so that citizens can recycle conveniently at any location. […]

Waste fee system

Recently, Hong Kong has been proposing a charging scheme similar to the VWF and the PBTCF. It has led to disputes in society over this issue, from the price and volume of the authorized garbage bags, to the legal framework for enforcement. A survey discovered that a charging scheme may not be suitable to Hong Kong as it is least supported by the public (Wan et al., 2018). This suggests that Hong Kong will likely face great difficulty introducing a system similar to the VWF and the PBTCF.

To settle the dispute, Hong Kong can conduct a pilot project just as what South Korea has done. In order to gain public support for policy measures, it is suggested that the government should work on changing the publics’ ‘attitude and perceived policy effectiveness’ (Wan et al., 2015, p.45). With the promising results from the pilot project, citizens may have more confidence in the proposed system.

Evaluate the properties, development, needs and problems associated with the topic.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of factors affecting the topic.

Propose possible solutions or recommendations for action.

Propose possible solutions or recommendations for action.

Evaluate the properties, development, needs and problems associated with the topic.

Propose possible solutions or recommendations for action.

Conclusion

To establish a comprehensive solid waste treatment system, both strategies towards the reduction of solid waste generation and solid waste treatment are essential. By gaining experience from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, it is recommended that Hong Kong take prompt actions to evaluate her recycling policies and plan for constructing infrastructure for solid waste treatment.

In this paper, e-waste has not been mentioned. However, Hong Kong should also pay attention to its generation of e-waste, as it poses a serious threat to the environment if they are disposed of improperly. For further research purposes, it is suggested that analysis of the experiences from European countries, the pioneer of e-waste management, can be conducted to help Hong Kong form a more complete solid waste treatment system.

Summarize all important findings in the report.

State personal thoughts and make recommendations for the selected topic.