A tougher set of rules for import of waste paper has been introduced by the Hong Kong Government.
Effectively, unless the material is being re-exported elsewhere, there is a ban on imports of waste paper into Hong Kong.
In a statement, Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department (EPD) noted that neighbouring countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia have progressively tightened their import controls, while China would ban imports of paper by the end of the year.
As a result, it had decided to enhance its own import controls.
This means that anyone exporting or re-exporting from or via Hong Kong needs to submit in advance a declaration form and relevant documents to the EPD for record purposes.
Waste paper will need to be uncontaminated, and exported or re-exported for the purpose of reprocessing, recycling, recovery operation or the reuse of the waste.
As there are no recycling facilities in Hong Kong that can receive recovered fibre at present, all waste paper shall not be imported into Hong Kong unless it is being re-exported for recycling elsewhere.
Full guidelines on the new measures can be found here
