COVID-19: HK virus testing in schools fuels waste woesFILLED TO BRIM: Hong Kong’s landfills were almost at capacity, as it does not recycle plastic waste from quarantine hotels for fear of COVID-19 contaminationReuters, HONG KONGA Hong Kong government rule that all school students and staff take daily COVID-19 tests would add massively to the territory’s plastic waste problem, environmentalists say, with about 20 million kits per month set to be dumped at bursting landfills. A man jogs past discarded polystyrene foam boxes stored on a street in Hong Kong on Thursday. The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department said that about 120,000 to 150,000 foam boxes were arriving daily from the mainland. A woman buys boxes of rapid antigen test kits for COVID-19 in Hong Kong on Feb. 28. Photo: ReutersOver the past year Hong Kong has generated a colossal amount of disposable plastic waste from quarantine hotels and isolation facilities, which is not recycled due to fear of contamination.

Source: Taipei Times April 29, 2022 22:24 UTC