Hikers heading out of the city need to start planning to carry their rubbish back with them next year, with authorities set to remove all bins in country parks by the end of December.
The move is the latest phase of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department’s (AFCD) “Take Your Litter Home” campaign that started in 2015 and saw bins removed on 11 hiking trails.
AFCD director Leung Siu-fai said at a hiking event on Sunday that the remaining 257 rubbish and recycle bins would be taken away over the coming weeks.
According to the Standard, he said there are no plans to reinstall the bins even if the measure proved ineffective.
Among the 11 trails selected for the scheme’s trial phase, nine recorded decreases of between 33 percent and 89 percent in the average amount of litter collected, according to a AFCD report.
Leung Siu-fai also said that while some toilets would be installed, hikers shouldn’t expect them “every 10 steps”.
For details on Hong Kong’s country parks visit the AFCD website here.
