NGO urges delay in waste tax enforcement for disadvantaged tenants of ‘cage homes,’ unmanaged buildings

An NGO serving Hong Kong’s low-income residents has urged the government to delay the enforcement of a controversial waste charging scheme among disadvantaged tenants of “cage homes,” subdivided units and those in “three-nil” buildings.

“Three-nil” buildings are generally those which lack an owners’ company, residents’ organisation or property management firm to manage the building.

Alongside eight residents, the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) went to the Legislative Council (LegCO) on Tuesday to lodge a complaint and spoke of residents’ concerns about the upcoming waste charging scheme.

According to SoCO, residents living in subdivided cubicles, “cage” homes, as well as those in “three-nil” budlings, find it difficult to reach recycling facilities, even if they want to reduce waste. They are also concerned that landlords might ask them to extra pay waste handling fees once the scheme come into effect.

The group asked lawmakers to review the scheme. “If supporting services and recycling facilities are still lacking, [the government] should consider postponing the enforcement of the scheme…” SoCO said in a Chinese-language statement, suggesting the government should implement the scheme in different phases.

Hong Kong in January announced it was postponing the introduction of a waste tax from April to August, citing public concerns. The scheme was designed to reduce domestic waste, ease pressure on landfills, and promote recycling by requiring people to pay for what they dispose of through the use of designated bags.

The Environmental Protection Department estimated that – under the scheme – a family of three members would spend around HK$50 per month to purchase waste bags. As of April 1, the government added HK$10 to welfare payments for the city’s poorest residents in an effort to cover some of the waste charging fees.

A trial run of the scheme began at 14 premises on April 1, including government buildings, restaurants, private and public residential estates, as well as “three-nil” buildings.

Concerns of low-income residents

There were 2,943 “three-nil” buildings across the city at the end of 2022, according to a LegCo paper. According to the Long Term Housing Strategy Annual Progress Report released by the government, there were 127,500 households living in inappropriate housing by the end of 2022, including 93,600 households living in subdivided cubicles.

SoCO interviewed people in 306 subdivided dwellings about the waste charging scheme in February. The survey indicated that low-income residents had yet to develop recycling habits.

While over 90 per cent of interviewees agreed the government should roll out policies for recycling and environmental protection, fewer than 25 per cent of residents collected recyclable waste to place in designated bins or take to recycling centres.

Some residents said in the survey that recycling facilities are too far away from their home, while some said that their cubicles are too small to collect recyclable waste for further handling.

Recycling facilities

The Hong Kong government said last Tuesday that it will speed up food waste recycling and set up hundreds more smart bins to collect it before August, when the city officially rolls out its delayed waste charging programme.

The scheme has stirred controversy in recent months, with a pro-Beijing heavyweight urging authorities to halt or postpone its plans, saying it was originally proposed by the “radical opposition,” claiming it was “mission impossible.”

Meanwhile, ex-environment officials and expert said that recycling had been on the rise globally and the city should not further delay implementation, a policy first introduced in 2005.

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