Landfills

All municipal solid waste is currently deposited at three large modern
strategic landfills in the New Territories, developed by specialist waste
management contractors to high environmental standards.

Rapid development in Hong Kong over the past decade has contributed to
the dramatic increase in the amount of construction and demolition waste
requiring disposal. Some 28 500 tonnes of such waste were generated
every day during 1997, enough to fill 4.5 Olympic swimming pools. Since
much of the construction waste delivered to landfills could be reused,
contractors are encouraged to segregate and sort their waste at source
before disposal. About 6 500 tonnes out of the 28 500 tonnes were
dumped at landfills every day. The rest was delivered to public filling
areas for use in land reclamation.

Hong Kong has 13 old landfills, none of which has been properly
restored. Landfill gas and liquid leachate, which are the products of
natural decay of organic wastes, are continuously released and cause
considerable impact on the environment. For safety and environmental
reasons, these landfills are now being restored. Restoration work has
already started on seven of these landfills and will be completed by late
1998. After full restoration, the sites may be used for community
activities.

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