According to the latest Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics from 2013, there were 842 million people suffering from starvation in the world. But at the same time in Hong Kong, we Hong Kongers each generates and disposes 130kg of food waste every year. The food waste accounts for more than a third of the rubbish in the city’s shrinking landfills. To counter the food waste problem, the Hong Kong government introduces a solution of imposing food waste charges for daily household food waste. Yet, is the solution a necessary? Is it practical and effective? I have my doubt in the valid implementation of the food waste charges.
Foremost of my concern is that imposing food waste charges for daily household food waste require complicated practical measurements, which are hard to carry out in Hong Kong. The most controversial one is the mode of charging for daily household food waste. The first possibility is to charge each district a fixed amount but it cannot bring the users to pay into play. Families or shops may dump their food trash in a more unbridled way. The second option is to charge by requesting citizens to buy government-designated garbage bags which can hold a certain amount of waste. But people may then litter on street to escape from the fee. This may lead to some more complicated problem in law enforcement and sanitation in the public areas. The third optionfor food waste charge is to measure the consumption of water as to project the quantity of food waste dumped for each family unit. But is it justified? In what grounds can we prove that the consumption of water is the same as the quantity of food waste dumped?In this case, the expenses charged may be scant while the citizen produces a large amount of food waste.
Besides, the food waste charges will never work without the other measures’ implementation. As reference in the implementation of imposing food waste policy in Taiwan, the policy has been carried out after the successful admission of garbage sorting policy, like gearing recycling trucks to collect different kinds of reusable garbage to reduce the charge of waste that citizens need to actually pay. When Hong Kong adopts the food waste charges, the government should keep in mind that other policies like garbage sorting, food waste sorting and food recycling trucks should be well-preapared at the same time. Despite the satisfactory implementation of policies in Taiwan, it is not user-friendly in Hong Kong. Imagine the packed streets and bustling traffic,citizens may not have time to do the sorting and trucks may not arrive on time during traffic jam. Food waste charges alone have no magic but the changing food consumption pattern and food waste treatment pattern is the key. The above mentioned potential problems are just the tip of iceberg. When food waste charge is imposed, more undesirable results may happen.
Concerning the gap between the rich and the poor, imposing food waste charges will further intensify the problem and it definitely will bring heavy burden to low-income families. With reference to Taiwan, each government-designated garbage bag costs about $1.5. If this option is adopted in Hong Kong, it is estimated that each family unit needs two to five garbage bags per month, which costs about $10 in total. In Hong Kong, the minimum wage of an employee is $30 per hour. After counting the transport expenses (about $20) and the food expenses (about $60) and other different expenses per day, there would not be much savings left. It may be difficult for the poor to pay for extra food,let alone paying for the food waste.The $10 dollars to the rich is nothing but to the poor, they can buy one more dish of cabbage which may have already been a meal. So, it is strongly believed that the charges are heavy burdens to some low-income family.
Imposing food waste charges may bring unwanted negative effect – citizens may choose to walk on the gray-area-measures. Some HongKongers may try to escape from the charges in order to save their money while some of the bustling ones may not have time to do the garbage-sort-out and mix all kinds of food wastage together with other solid waste. They may litter the garbage on the street or just pile it up in front of their flats. This will lead to further serious problems such as street sanitation and administration of the estates. With no doubt, it is not the result that the government would like to see.
To conclude, it is believed that imposing food waste charges, without the help of other infrastructures, would only create more problems than alleviating the food waste problem. In the long run, education will be a good solution for food waste.The citizens’ awareness on saving food is the key to solving the rooted problem of food waste – the sumptuous eating habit. The government should organize some field trips for children and youngsters regularly with the cooperation with schools in Hong Kong. Students can take part in some farming activities and visit the landfills, food donation organization or factories that handle excess food wastage and experience the seriousness of food waste problem. With the experience, their values of saving food will be built and they will cherish food. Only through educating the next generation can the food waste problem be addressed from its root.