To cope with the 2020 outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in Hong Kong, the government subsidized the production of disposable masks and issued ordinances to impose social distancing measures and compulsory mask-wearing in public areas. The NGO Greeners Action conducted an online survey in October with over 1,000 people, and results show that most Hong Kong residents used 7-10 disposable masks a week, which is equivalent to 2 billion disposable masks from February to November. Most of the used masks were transported to landfills.
The Prime Minister’s announcement and COAG support for a ban on waste exports should be cautiously welcomed and is long overdue following the embarrassing revelations of Australian illegal waste dumping in South East Asia. However, it seems certain that the announcement is designed to distract from a major government push to burn Australia’s waste in polluting incinerators: an industry it quietly supports. As noted by some media reports on the announcement, the government “was exploring using waste in energy plants to power Australian homes.”
Buenos Aires, 31 de mayo 2016. El cruce de reflexiones e información en torno a modelos de producción y consumo y las alternativas de la agroecología y basura cero en un contexto de lucha contra el cambio climático y la justicia ambiental, se dio lugar en un Seminario realizado este fin de semana en Buenos Aires.
