Comment›Letters

Efforts to recycle met with obstacles

I read with interest the comment by Christine Loh, undersecretary for the environment (“Charging scheme provides incentive for waste separation [1]“, August 27), that the government needed to focus both on maximising waste recycling and waste charging. I cannot agree more.

Our family has been attempting to recycle our waste for a number of years but, regrettably, our efforts have been hampered on all fronts.

The estate manager of our complex gallantly confirmed that there was a good recycling programme in place and yet the cleaners regularly dump the contents of our recycling boxes with general domestic waste.

The government recycling containers in our neighbourhood are regularly full, at times with leaves and other rubbish collected by government-contracted cleaners who sweep the streets.

I also tried “paid” recycling and, after paying the required fee, I was told there was insufficient interest for the services to be extended to our neighbourhood and so it was not economically viable.

From time to time, we read in the press of difficulties faced by recycling companies and the purported lack of government support and funding.

Without stating the obvious, recycling companies will only operate if there is a profit to be generated and without the recycling companies, all efforts will be to no avail.

While our children have been coached in the message of RRR (reduce, reuse and recycle), I have yet to come across any evidence of efforts by the administration to make recycling a real and readily available option.

We have high hopes in Ms Loh and with her dedication and foresight, I am sure her department will strive to improve our environment.

Nevertheless, it would be helpful if she could enlighten us on the government’s plans and actions and, more specifically, let me know where I should take our boxes of paper, cans, glass and plastic bottles; and how I can be sure that these are properly recycled.

Kelly Lam, The Peak