HONG KONG 2004 - The Environment

In November 1998, the Government launched a 10-year Waste Reduction Framework Plan. This was a response to the rapid growth in the amount of waste being dumped in the landfills, leading to a significant reduction in their expected lifespan. Given the shortage of land in Hong Kong and the keen competition for any available space, it will be difficult to find sites for any new landfills. The plan aims to reduce the amount of waste produced, to encourage re-use and recycling, to promote greater efficiency and economy in the management of waste, and to prolong the usable life of Hong Kong's landfills.

Waste recovery continues to play an important role in waste management, resulting in the export of substantial quantities of recovered waste materials for re-manufacturing outside Hong Kong. In all, about 2.1 million tonnes of waste materials — including paper, metals and plastic — were exported in 2004, generating export earnings of about $3.4 billion.

Waste reduction and recovery have been the Government's main focus in tackling the waste problem. The Government introduced a package of initiatives in 2001 to further promote waste prevention and recycling and has been making progress in this regard.

Charging for waste disposal is an important element in the waste management strategy adopted in Hong Kong. It can provide economic incentives for waste producers to reduce waste and to carry out sorting to facilitate re-use and recycling which will, in turn, help conserve landfill capacity. As a first step, the Government intends to levy charges for the disposal of construction waste at landfills, sorting facilities and public fill reception facilities. In late 2003, it introduced the Waste Disposal (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill to give effect to the scheme for charging for construction waste disposal. The Bill was passed by the Legislative Council in July 2004. Related regulations will be implemented in 2005.

All municipal solid waste is disposed of at three large modern landfills in the New Territories. Specialist waste management contractors operate these landfills to high environmental standards.

The community disposed of about 9 290 tonnes of municipal solid wastes every day in 2004. Of this, 7 020 tonnes was domestic waste and 2 270 tonnes were commercial and industrial waste. On average, each person in Hong Kong disposed of about 1.36 kilograms of municipal solid waste daily.

Rapid development in Hong Kong over the past decade has contributed to a dramatic increase in the amount of construction and demolition (C&D) material. The material generated every day amounted to some 56 000 tonnes, on average, and about 88 per cent of it was suitable for re-use in reclamation projects.

The current three landfills have a remaining lifespan of only 6 to 10 years. In 2004, the Government kicked off a public communication programme on the urgent need to extend the existing landfills. Planning and development work on possible landfill extension schemes will soon proceed to ensure the continuity of waste disposal outlets.

Hong Kong has 13 old landfills. For safety and environmental reasons, restoration measures have been taken at these landfills, and restoration of 12 of them has been completed. It is intended to restore the last landfill, at Pillar Point Valley, by mid-2006. After full restoration, the sites may be used primarily for community and recreational activities.

The network of refuse transfer stations forms an important component of the Government's waste disposal facilities. Waste collected in urban centres is delivered to these stations, where it is compacted into sealed containers for delivery to the three landfills.

Seven modern transfer stations and one set of Outlying Island Transfer Facilities (OITF) handle 5 360 tonnes of waste every day. This is mostly domestic waste, and represents around 76 per cent of Hong Kong's total daily domestic waste production. Six of these transfer facilities — the stations at Hong Kong Island East, Hong Kong Island West, West Kowloon, North Lantau and North-West New Territories and the OITF on Ma Wan — also provide services to private waste collectors.

The widespread malpractice of dumping chemical waste into sewers and surface waters was stopped by the introduction of comprehensive controls on the handling and disposal of chemical waste. All chemical waste producers are required to properly pack, label and store their chemical wastes before disposal at proper treatment facilities. A trip ticket system — involving the waste producers, licensed collectors and licensed disposal points — tracks the movement of chemical waste from its origin to the final disposal point.

In 2004, a daily average of 107 tonnes of chemical waste, including waste from sea-going vessels, was treated at the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre on Tsing Yi Island, the main treatment facility for chemical waste. A government contractor operates the treatment centre. Waste producers using its services are required to pay part of the treatment cost.

In recognition of the public health risks associated with the improper handling of clinical waste generated by health-care activities, the Government plans to implement legal controls on the handling, collection and disposal of this type of waste. The Government also proposes to modify the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre so that it can receive clinical waste for proper treatment, replacing the current practice of disposing of untreated clinical waste at landfills. The health-care sectors and other related parties have been consulted and have generally supported the proposal. A Waste Disposal (Amendment) Bill, providing for the control of clinical waste, is planned to be introduced into the Legislative Council in 2005. Subject to the passage of the bill and related subsidiary legislation, the Government intends to implement the controls in 2006.

No matter how effective it is in dealing with waste prevention and recycling, Hong Kong still has to deal with a large volume of non-recyclable waste. New facilities to treat waste and reduce its volume will have to be put in place. Such facilities will need to meet the highest international environmental standards and be cost-effective. In April 2002, the Government invited the local and international waste management industries to express their interest in proposing the latest technologies for the development of large-scale waste treatment facilities in Hong Kong. An advisory group, comprising mainly non-officials, is considering various waste management technologies and options that are potentially suitable to Hong Kong. The public will be consulted about the technology options in 2005. However, even with such large-scale waste treatment facilities, there are residual wastes that must be handled safely. Hence, Hong Kong will continue to require landfills for the final disposal of waste.

Controls on the import and export of waste under the Waste Disposal Ordinance (WDO) ban the importation of hazardous waste from developed countries (mainly of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union). The controls are in line with the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.

The convention's main control mechanism requires notification and consent by authorities of the states of origin, destination and transit before the shipment of hazardous or non-recyclable waste can begin.

In January 2000, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the HKSAR and the Mainland to strengthen control of hazardous waste movement between the two places.

Under the WDO, it is an offence to import or export hazardous waste, regardless of its purpose, into or out of Hong Kong without a permit. Maximum penalties are a fine of $200,000 and six months' imprisonment for the first offence, and a fine of $500,000 and two years' imprisonment for subsequent offences. In 2004, there were 37 prosecutions for illegal import and export of waste, with fines totaling $490,000. Most of these offences were releated to trans-shipment of hazardous electronic waste through Hong Kong to other countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. The EPD has stepped up enforcement with both local and overseas control authorities against these illegal activities since early 2004.

The Marine Department deploys a fleet of seven government vessels and 75 contractors' vessels to collect floating refuse and refuse from vessels. In 2004, 13 874 tonnes were collected. The Government has also tackled the floating refuse problem by raising public awareness through publicity and educational activities, and deterring marine littering by means of enforcement.

Hong Kong's development projects continue to generate vast quantities of dredged mud that is unsuitable for reclamation or other uses (31.3 million cubic metres in 2004). It is dumped at sea in specified mud disposal areas under a permit system. Regular monitoring is undertaken by the Government to make sure that dumping operations do not create an unacceptable impact on the marine environment. Because of the serious potential impact of illegal dumping on the marine environment, the EPD maintains strict control over dumping operations under the Dumping at Sea Ordinance. These operations follow the requirements of the London Convention on marine dumping.

Marine dumping permits allow operations to be carried out only by a vessel equipped with an automatic self-monitoring device. This device tracks all marine dumping operations by recording the position and draught of the vessel, so that the authorities can trace any illegal dumping in a cost-effective manner. Moreover, the department's inspectors operate frequent patrols. There were 33 prosecutions for illegal dumping offences in 2004.

The assessment of progress towards achieving policy goals is one of the EPD's key activities. Its routine monitoring and special investigations form the basis for much of the strategic planning, provision of facilities and statutory controls aimed at improving the environment. The department has 94 sampling stations in the marine waters, including enclosed bays and typhoon shelters, and another 82 stations for inland waters. It also keeps 41 bathing beaches under surveillance.

The current water quality monitoring programme provides a comprehensive record of the chemical, physical and microbiological quality of Hong Kong's waters. The monitoring data is depicted in the annual water quality reports available on the EPD's home page. Information on the latest water quality of the major marine and river stations is also published quarterly on the home page. As the public are usually more interested in the latest water quality grades of bathing beaches, such details are issued to the media and updated on the department's website every week.