New plastic collection plan will cost more: operator

One of the NGOs, which operates under the Green@Community network, on Friday called on the government to offer more subsidies, as the community recycling network is due to take charge of all plastic collection work at the city's housing estates. Under the existing pilot scheme, three contractors were responsible for plastic collection at Eastern, Kwun Tong and Sha Tin districts. Meanwhile, organisations under the Green@Community network at three districts - Eastern, Kwun Tong and Sha Tin - were also tasked with heading to housing estates to collect recyclables other than plastics. With the scheme coming to an end, the Environmental Protection Department announced that a new arrangement would be implemented on January 19 to consolidate the process and prevent a duplication of resources. Yau Wing-kwong, founder of the organisation that operates under the Green@Community network in Tai Po Market, told RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme that there will be increased costs. "Previously, the collection is by the pilot scheme. So they (the government) did not put the budget on delivery of the plastic or treatment of the plastic because the contractor would come and take it away," he said. "With the change of the pilot scheme, they have to pay more for the collectors to come and take it. They're talking about one part of cost for delivery - they come to collect the plastic - and another cost for treating the plastic. So all these additional costs would be put on the recyclable shops, the collection shops." But Yau assured the public that Green@Community's service quality would not be compromised under the new arrangement. "We really don't have to worry about that. Because the Environmental Protection Department comes to visit us very frequently, and they have offices working very closely with all these recyclable shops," he said. "Also, it's well-documented every day how much waste is collected, where it goes, and who has taken the recyclables away to recycle. It's all well-documented, and we make sure that they go to the right channel."