Module 6 – Argumentative essay writing practice

Name: ___________________________________ ( ) Class: 4_____

Issue: Waste disposal charging

Consider the following information:

Source A:
Waste disposal charge will cost a typical Hong Kong family HK$51 a month

The Environment Bureau finally unveiled its long overdue proposal on the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
charging scheme. Two charging modes, namely ‘charging by designated garbage bags’ and ‘charging by weight’,
will be adopted.

The first charging mode applies to most residential buildings and street-level shops that currently use the waste
collection service provided by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD). Residents have to put
their waste into designated garbage bags before disposal. Each litre will be charged $0.11. The government
estimated that a three-person family would pay about $33 to $51 per month.

The ‘charging by weight’ mode mainly applies to industrial and commercial premises. Shops, restaurants and
business offices will pay a landfill ‘gate fee’, based on the weight of the rubbish they produce. They would be
charged $365 to $395 per ton of garbage they dispose of. The public will be given 12 to 18 months to prepare for
the charging scheme. Full implementation is expected in the second half of 2019.

In Taipei City and Seoul, MSW disposal dropped by 30% in the initial period after a quantity-based waste
charging was introduced.

Source: Adapted from South China Morning Post dated March 20, 2017 & Manhattan Senior Secondary Liberal Studies Online
Resources News Worksheet dated April 28, 2017

Source B:
Offenders intercepted on the spot will be issued fixed penalty tickets
at $1,500 or prosecuted

The Secretary for the Environment, Wong Kam-sing said the government would step up enforcement at refuse
collection stations and bin sites. Legislation could also empower public officers to carry out enforcement and
spot checks within common areas of private residential estates. Fixed penalties for non-compliance have been set
at $1,500. However, within the first six months, unless the violations are serious or repeated, offenders will only
receive warning.

Ng Man-kit, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), added that the government
would legislate to empower EPD staff to enforce the law in the public space of buildings. However, the
department will not consider installing closed-circuit televisions in buildings.

In addition, the government plans to reduce the number of rubbish bins in public areas by 40% before the
implementation of the MSW charging scheme to prevent illegal disposal of domestic waste.

Source: Adapted from South China Morning Post dated March 20, 2017 & Manhattan Senior Secondary Liberal Studies Online
Resources News Worksheet dated April 28, 2017

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Module 6 – Argumentative essay writing practice
‘Waste disposal charging helps resolve the problem of municipal solid waste in
Hong Kong.’ To what extent do you agree to this view? Explain your answer.
(8 marks)
N.B.: This is an argumentative essay. However, this question is not related to sustainable development. For an
eight mark question, you are expected to write 2 arguments (to support your stance), 1 counterargument
(opposite ideas of your arguments) and 1 rebuttal (directly against your counterargument).

Waste disposal HK
charging resolve ? solid waste

Guidelines of writing argumentative essay

(1) Write a draft of arguments and counterargument

Agree Disagree
The implementation of waste disposal charging acts as There are loopholes in the enforcement of the MSW
an economic incentive to encourage the public to charging scheme.
reduce solid waste at source.

Our neighbouring cities (e.g. Taipei, Seoul) have

achieved success in implementing a MSW charging
scheme.

(2) Write an argumentative essay

Since this is a practice exercise, let’s all agree to the view ‘waste disposal charging helps resolve the problem
of municipal solid waste in Hong Kong.

In this exercise, please form arguments, counterargument and rebuttal towards the issue. You should
explain / elaborate in detail with relevant examples. You can present the ideas with reference to Source A
and Source B.

N.B.
1. Type your answers in the WORD document
2. Submit your work in PDF file and rename the file as e.g. 4A01waste
3. Marks will be deducted due to late submission
Submission date: February 8 (Monday) before 1pm
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Module 6 – Argumentative essay writing practice

INTRODUCTION

To a large extent, I agree to the view ‘waste disposal charging helps resolve the problem of municipal
solid waste in Hong Kong.’ Compared with nearby cities with similar levels of development, Hong Kong
disposed a greater amount of waste. Most municipal solid waste is sent to the three landfills at Ta Kwu Ling,
Tuen Mun and Tseung Kwan O. However, the capacity of the landfills is limited and they will be full soon.
Implementing waste disposal charging can help handle the solid waste problem properly in Hong Kong. It is an
economic incentive measure to encourage the public to reduce solid waste. Also, our neighbouring cities such as
Taipei and Seoul have achieved success in implementing a MSW charging scheme.

ARGUMENTS
Firstly, the implementation of waste disposal charging acts as an economic incentive to encourage the
public to reduce solid waste at source. (Type out your answers in the box below.)
According to source A, Residents have to put their waste into designated garbage bags before disposal. Each
litre will be charged $0.11. The money they spend on waste disposal charging will be the cost of throwing
waste, which means the more waste they produce, the more money they need to pay. So if they want to cut
down the cost, waste disposal charging will be the factor of produce less solid waste.

Secondly, our neighbouring cities have achieved success in implementing a MSW charging scheme.
(Type out your answers in the box below.)
Taipei City and Seoul, MSW disposal dropped by 30% in the initial period after a quantity-based waste
charging was introduced, prove that waste disposal charging can reduce the amount of solid waste.

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Module 6 – Argumentative essay writing practice
COUNTERARGUMENT + REBUTTAL (Type out your answers in the box below.)
However, some people argue that the implementation of waste disposal charging cannot help resolve the
solid waste problem in Hong Kong effectively. …… Yet, …….
People think that there are loopholes in waste disposal charging scheme, as some people may throw the
rubbish on streets to escape from paying the charging, which will cause the disposal charging scheme become
useless. But actually public officer will have spot check around the city, $1500 penalty will be charged if
citizens try to escape from paying charging. Beside spot checking, government will also reduce amount of
rubbish bin on the street so the amount of waste citizens can throw on street will also be reduced.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, after considering different viewpoints, I believe that the advantages of the waste disposal
charging scheme outweigh the disadvantages. Since the scheme is one of the proposed strategies for handling
solid waste problem in Hong Kong in order to achieve waste reduction at source, it should be adopted as soon
as possible.