Hong Kong moves to local waste paper pulping from 1 October

Hong Kong will pulp recovered waste paper locally at full scale from Thursday, when a modernised facility at EcoPark in Tuen Mun expands local processing and reduces the city’s reliance on exports.

What’s changing?

The Environmental Protection Department will expand the types of waste paper it accepts beyond the traditional  “three types,” cardboard, newspapers and office paper, to include mixed paper such as paper bags, packaging boxes and wrapping paper. Speaking on an RTHK radio programme, assistant director of waste management Steve Wong Chi-wah said the facility can now mix long and short paper fibres, including from magazines, into a uniform pulp, something the previous export-based system couldn’t handle for lower-fibre materials.

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How big is the shift?

The EcoPark facility began operating on 27 July and has been ramping up since. Annual recovery capacity will rise from just over 500,000 tonnes to 720,000 tonnes, enough to handle all the waste paper Hong Kong generates. The facility already hit a record daily intake of 1,608 tonnes this month, 4 per cent above last year’s daily average. The EPD said the market and trade have been gradually adapting to the shift.

What happens to the old export system?

The existing waste paper collection and recycling services contract, which supported exports, will wind down as local processing scales up. Recyclers who still want to export waste paper will need to arrange that commercially on their own, outside the government contract.