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The struggle for sustainable waste management in Hong Kong: 1950s–2010s

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  • Lou, Loretta Ieng Tak
  • Fabian, Nele

Abstract

As Hong Kong’s landfills are expected to reach saturated conditions by 2020, the city can no longer rely on landfilling alone as the sole solution for waste treatment in the long term. Drawing on five months of archival research at the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Public Records Office (PRO) in 2016 as well as 17 months of fieldwork conducted between 2012, 2013 and 2016, this article provides a much-needed overview of why sustainable waste management has always been such a challenge for Hong Kong. Focusing on the city’s dependence on landfills and its failure to integrate alternative waste management technologies, namely incineration, into its current waste management regime, we explicate Hong Kong’s waste management predicaments from the 1950s to the present day. Through a historical lens, we argue that Hong Kong’s waste problems have a historical root and that they are unlikely to be resolved unless the government is willing to learn from its past mistakes and adopt a much more proactive approach in the near future.

Suggested Citation

  • Lou, Loretta Ieng Tak & Fabian, Nele, 2019. "The struggle for sustainable waste management in Hong Kong: 1950s–2010s," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103562, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:103562
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/103562/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Catherine R. Schenk, 1994. "Closing the Hong Kong Gap: the Hong Kong free dollar market in the 1950s," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 47(2), pages 335-353, May.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    waste management; landfills; land reclamation; incineration; recycling; sustainability; Hong Kong;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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