The fiasco over Hong Kong’s solid waste charging scheme – the start of which has been further postponed, from April 1 to August 1 – highlights shortcomings in the way the government works and its failure to learn from the past. Solid waste charging is an important policy to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills and is part of Hong Kong’s commitment to environmental sustainability. The policy has been discussed or been on the books for many years, and seemingly endlessly postponed. The government claims that the public does not understand it and that more education and persuasion is n…
