Hashtags of #ChallengeBigWaster, #plasticfreejuly and others occupy a certain portion of posts in the Facebook feed of office worker Virginia Chan, who says: “These are the initiatives taken by my friends to do one little thing a day to reduce waste and plastic.”
With a number of friends adopting a green lifestyle, the office worker – in her twenties – is not unfamiliar with environmental gestures such as replacing plastic bags with reusable bags, using a lunch box instead of plastic containers, adopting eco-friendly products, and so forth. But has she ever followed the examples of her friends?
“Sometimes I’ve done it, like saying no to plastic bags, but I’ve never done it intentionally,” she remarked. “Sometimes, I also wonder whether these really make a change when Macau is not so eco-friendly.”
Her frustration is understandable. As environmentalists and local civic groups take action to promote a green lifestyle with less plastic and waste, the city’s policy of waste reduction severely lags global standards with measures still up in the air despite years of discussion.
According to the city’s solid waste management plan (2017-2026), in 2016 the solid waste of Macau totalled 504,000 tonnes, or a daily haul of 1,377 tonnes, translating to a scenario that every person in the city produced 2.11 kilos of solid waste every day – significantly higher than many regions, compared, for example, with 1.39 kilos in Hong Kong, 1.49 kilos in Singapore, 1.3 kilos in the United Kingdom and 2 kilos in the United States.
“[The government] should try to provide more convenience for the public to adopt waste reduction practices in their daily life through policy initiatives,” says Ron Lam U Tou, president of the Macau Synergy Association.
Another worrying sign of the statistics is that the amount of solid waste in the gambling enclave, rising more than 76.2 per cent in the past decade, has reached about 80 per cent of the capacity of the city’s incinerators, expanded in 2008 to accommodate the growing demand, according to Environmental Protection Bureau statistics.
Slow progress
In the face of grim and dismal prospects, the government has ‘blue-skyed’ a wide range of short-term and long-term measures, including a charging scheme for using plastic bags while shopping, to reducing daily waste production per capita by 30 per cent to 1.48 kilos in 2026.
Following a public consultation exercise on the plastic bag scheme concluded in early 2016, the government noted that the public mostly supports a levy of at least MOP1 per plastic bag by retailers like bakeries, supermarkets and grocery stores. After two years, however, the measure has yet to materialise, prompting comments and doubts by legislators.
“But the waste reduction work here has so far remained at the level of raising awareness,” laments legislator Wong Kit Cheng
Lawmaker Agnes Lam Iok Fong is one of them. “Mainland China started charging for plastic bags in 2008 with the policy now implemented across the nation, while Hong Kong also banned free plastic bags in 2015,” she notes. “The Macau Government has claimed to do so but the legislative progress is really slow.”
“Compared with other eco-friendly measures and infrastructure that take time to be formulated, a plastic bag charging scheme is relatively easy to handle,” she continued. “But it still takes so much time for implementation; how can [the public] look forward to other measures?”
She also demanded that the government set up requirements for the ingredients of plastic products like straws and bags to reduce the impact of plastic waste upon the environment.
Awareness level
Fellow legislator Wong Kit Cheng added that plastic waste accounted for about 21 per cent of total solid waste in the city in 2016, more than doubling from 11-12 per cent in high income regions, reflecting the urgency of waste and plastic reduction here.
“Many places have different concrete actions to reduce plastic, such as banning the use of plastic cutlery, one-time plastic products, and so on,” she noted. For instance, France has passed a law banning all single-use plastic plates, cutlery and disposable cups by 2020, to be replaced by those made from compostable, biologically-sourced materials. “But the waste reduction work here has so far remained at the level of raising awareness,” she laments.
The government also has a track record of not fulfilling its environmental pledges. “Many goals and measures listed in the Macau Environmental Protection Plan (2010-2020) have yet to be accomplished, while some have not even been started,” said Ms. Wong, urging authorities to enforce the plastic bag charging scheme as soon as possible, adding that the authorities should also build more plastic recycling and processing facilities, while looking for ways of subsidising the waste recycling industry.
The waste recycling industry has bemoaned the lack of support from the government since 2015, with the government finally produing a plan last year to subsidise half of the cost of equipment purchase. But the proposed scheme has not been received well by the sector.
On the way
With regard to queries about a plastic bag charging scheme the Environmental Protection Bureau noted in a statement that a draft bill on the matter has been completed and is being improved in accordance with the opinions of respective government departments to minimise problems arising from the implementation of the bill.
The Bureau also encourages consumers to use less plastic whilst shopping via the promotion of ‘free gifts for using less plastic’ initiative, seminars, digital media and other methods, it noted. This could help create ‘an atmosphere of using less plastic’ by society, it said, paving the way for the smooth implementation of the relevant scheme.
2.11 kg
Daily waste production per capita in Macau
21 per cent
Percentage of plastic in local solid waste
The ‘free gifts for using less plastic’ initiative is an annual event organised by the environmental bureau, in which residents eschewing the use of plastic bags whilst shopping at designated stores have the opportunity to win gifts like supermarket coupons. According to the Bureau, some 190,000 people have participated in the initiative since its introduction, with more than 300 stores joining this year’s initiative taking place between June and August.
Despite the lack of progress by the government, civic groups have taken the initiative to promote plastic and waste reduction in the territory. A local eco-friendly store – StuffBOX Store – launched the ‘Macau Plastic Free July Challenge’ campaign last month, in which participants take photos of how they reduce plastic every day for a week and post them to their social media accounts.
“We believe that everyone sharing their experience[s] of using less plastic can inspire their friends and families to [understand] the impact of plastic upon the environment,” the store avers, adding, “We would like to let more people know that there is a group of people in Macau . . . living a less plastic lifestyle.”
Cutting point
Three local civic groups – namely, the Macau Synergy Association, Green Future, and Macau Less Plastic Lifestyle – have recently launched a map identifying water fountains and water refill stations across the city on Google Map and Wechat to help discourage residents from buying bottled water. According to the three groups, some 470 drinks from plastic bottles are consumed every minute in Macau based upon calculations of official data.
Ron Lam U Tou, president of the Macau Synergy Association, noted that the map provides a cutting point for residents to adopt the practice of reducing plastic in their day-to-day life. “Many people accept using less plastic in their life but they just don’t know how to do it,” he laments.
In compiling the map, the three groups asked several government departments for details of their water fountains, with most actively responding. They have also met with representatives of the Environmental Protection Bureau, including its director, Raymond Tam Vai Man, who endorsed the map.
“The Bureau said it will draft guidelines for the standards of water fountains in public bodies within this year, while it will also encourage casino operators to distribute less bottled water [through co-ordination with the Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau],” said Mr. Lam, who is satisfied with the response of the environmental bureau.
Acknowledging that the government has to step up its work in its formulating policies and measures on plastic and waste reduction, he thinks it is also of paramount importance for the government to lead by example. “The government, for example, should ban bottled water in all their meetings,” he suggests, “while it should try to provide more convenience for the public to adopt waste reduction practices in their daily life through policy initiatives.”
Consensus
Society has reached consensus on a charging scheme for using plastic bags while shopping during a public consultation exercise concluded in early 2016 in six areas:
- Scheme to be implemented by retailers
- Scheme should be first rolled out in supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, department stores, food souvenir stores, bakeries and patisseries
- Each plastic bag should cost consumers at least MOP1
- Charge could be exempted for food safety and hygiene reasons
- Stores breaching regulations could be penalised from MOP600 to MOP1,000
Ambitious waste reduction plan
The government has proposed an ambitious plan for waste reduction in the 2017-2026 period with an array of short-term to long-term measures. But how effective they are or whether they can be implemented awaits to be seen.
2017-2019
- Battery recycling plan (implemented)
- Computer and telecommunication equipment recycling plan (implemented)
- Pilot stage of food waste recycling plan (implemented)
- Subsidy scheme for equipment for recycling industry (pending)
- Subsidy scheme for food waste processing equipment (pending)
- Charging scheme for plastic bags (pending)
- Construction waste management system (pending)
2020-2022
- Further subsidising recycling industry
- Expanding food waste recycling programme
- Public consultation on charging scheme for solid waste disposal
- Third phase expansion of incinerators
- First phase of central food waste processing facility development
2023-2026
- Facilitate implementation of charging scheme for solid waste disposal
- Establish recycling industrial park
- Set up central food waste processing plan for industrial and commercial businesses
- Build wood resources processing facilities
- Set up pier for recycling materials
