Chan HT and Cheung WH, The Challenges and Opportunities for Plastic Recycling in Hong Kong, HKIE Transactions, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Award Issue), Article THIE-2025-0037.R2, 2025, https://doi.org/10.33430/V32N4THIE-2025-0037
The HKSAR’s historic method of exporting and landfilling waste plastic has been severely disrupted by the implementation of China’s Operation Green Fence revealing sudden constraints in local landfills. This paper provides an outlook on future opportunities in tackling challenges of landfilling through substituting a sustainable waste management system. The current waste management system shall undergo transformation under the “Waste Blueprint in Hong Kong 2035”, through reframing the plastic recycling industry. Methods of MSW source separation have been identified including the potential use of RVMs for the collection of non-contaminated waste plastic. This provides an opportunity for the development of new management systems as an alternative to landfilling, with an emphasis on recycling in creating post-consumer plastic products entering the niche market. Other treatment methods such as the production of RPF and incineration energy recovery aims to eliminate plastic landfilling where recycling capacities fall short. Identified benefits range from economic, social and environmental to the production of products meeting Chinese market demands and exportation following the CEPA agreement.
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