Hong Kong’s environment minister has said strong public opposition led to the continued suspension of the government’s long-delayed waste-charging scheme, but has stressed that the volume of rubbish being disposed of has fallen over the years.

Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on Saturday defended the government’s decision to shelve the waste-charging scheme indefinitely.

He said multiple surveys showed about 70 to 80 per cent of respondents thought the scheme should not be implemented or that it was not appropriate for the policy to be carried out at this stage.

“Many opinions reflected that residents did not accept punitive waste-charging but were more willing to accept assistive and incentive measures to promote waste reduction and recycling,” he wrote on a blog.

“We received a lot of feedback from representatives from sectors, such as property management, catering and cleaning, which pointed out that they were currently facing staff shortages and operational challenges, and did not want the government to rush into implementing waste-charging.”

The Environment and Ecology Bureau said earlier this week the government would maintain the suspension of the waste-charging scheme, citing economic challenges amid a global tariff war and rising geopolitical risks.