As Hong Kong's landfills approach full capacity, officials hope to delay the date by cutting the amount of trash being produced.

In its Action Blueprint report, the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department has set out a plan to reduce the per capita disposal rate of municipal solid waste - domestic, commercial and industrial - by 40 percent on 2011 levels by 2022.

The rate will be cut 20 percent by 2017, from 1.27 kg a day to 1 kg or below; and in 2022, it will be further reduced from 1 to 0.8 kg or below, according to the report.

Another target is to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills from 52 percent in 2011 to 22 percent by 2022, and have 23 percent treated at energy-generating incineration plants.

City authorities are also promoting a Food Wise campaign to raise awareness among communities to reduce food wastage. People are urged to "clear their plates" and avoid ordering more food than they can eat at restaurants, as well as to avoid buying more than they can use from stores.

"Hong Kong is a small and dense city, with high material consumption and a high generation of waste," according to a statement from the department statement.

The authority added that the ambitious targets set out in the Action Blueprint should be achieved through multiple, concurrent actions.

- Lin Jing

(China Daily USA 09/30/2013 page7)