Govt open to longer waste charging scheme grace period
Environment minister Tse Chin-wan said on Wednesday that the government would be open to extending a six-month grace period for the waste charging scheme if necessary.  From August, people will need to buy special bags to throw their household rubbish away in. The scheme has been put back twice, for the public to first get familiar with the arrangements.   "We've set the phasing-in period to be six months, it's not a short period of time," the minister told lawmakers during a full council meeting. "But of course the whole purpose is to encourage everyone to learn and change their behaviour, and if necessary we will consider extending the phasing-in period." During the grace period, people caught throwing away their rubbish in anything other than a designated bag will get a verbal warning, rather than a fine. Meanwhile, Election Committee sector lawmaker Chan Siu-hung complained that there are not enough recycling stations around the city. He also said mobile recycling services often only collect items during the day, when people are at work. Tse said in response that the authorities have already asked station operators to hire more staff after the waste charging scheme comes into effect, and they'll look into extending the hours of the mobile recycling services. He added that authorities have noticed firms on a mainland shopping platform are offering what they say are designated rubbish bags at a cheaper price, but these companies are not authorised retailers. The minister said people can't use such bags and the firms have been reported to the Customs Department.