Public Poll: 49.9% support waste charging 20.6% oppose

To understand the opinions of the public on waste management policies, World Green Organisation (WGO) commissioned the Statistical Consulting Unit of the Department of Management Sciences of City University Hong Kong to conduct a public opinion survey in mid-September. The survey found that near half of the public show support to the waste charging scheme, while only 20.6% of respondents oppose the scheme. The reasons why the respondent showing support to the scheme include:

1) The scheme can encourage recycling (34.3% of respondents vote for this reason),
2) The public have the responsibility to protect the environment. (27.9% of respondents vote for this reason)

Half of the respondents who oppose the waste charging scheme think that the scheme may bring financial burden.

Regarding the options of waste charging, 64.7% of respondents show support to the mechanism of household by volume. About 10% of respondents prefer the other two mechanisms respectively, including building by weight and building by volume. Respondents think the household by volume mechanism is more effective in reducing waste and fairer.

WGO suggests the government should adopt the household by volume option when consider implementing the waste charging scheme. The public may also find it acceptable if the Municipal Solid Waste Charge is 30 to 50 dollars per month.

Update: WGO has submitted the views on MSW charging to the Council for Sustainable Development. Details of our views could be found at the link below