Prosecutions and complaints have fallen recently See Data

Formal partnerships have been set up with sectors that attract a lot of complaints

	An Ounce of Prevention A joint effort with the community and the operators of the West Rail helped to contain its impact on nearby residents Some projects entail work that will inevitably have unacceptable impacts. This happened with the West Rail project, which at one location had to run above the Light Rail. The work could not be carried out during the day because it would interfere with Light Rail operations. The challenge was to contain the noise disturbance from night-time work to the barest minimum possible. The work initially was supposed to be carried out from 1:30am to 4:30am for 130 nights from May to July, involving hammering and other noisy work. The EPD collaborated with the District Council, residents, other government departments and the Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) to try to reduce the impact. Finally, the night-time work was contained to eight nights. The KCRC agreed to pay a penalty to residents if it exceeded the eight days. This did not happen and no complaints were received about the night-time work.

Builders receive the latest information on environmental practices in many forms

A conference on green construction practices for the trade was held in 2002

The involvement of the Hong Kong Construction Association (HKCA) has helped to make the programme a success. A dedicated EPD team meets with the association every three months and together they have launched a number of joint actions. A pocket handbook and CD-ROM on relevant environmental information have been produced. Construction workers are being trained in good green practices. Dozens of environmental seminars have been organised. A website has been set up (http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/news_events/current_issue/green_examples.html) with basic facts, advice and more than 60 examples of good practices. In November 2002, a joint conference was organised on green construction, attracting more than 250 people. And a Best Practice Guide for 2002 was produced by the HKCA, offering practical solutions and suggestions for achieving pollution control and environmental management.

	Study Mission to Japan Restaurant and food operators and government officials joined the EPD on a study mission to Japan Restaurants, related stakeholders and the local food trade are major formal partners with the EPD. The EPD has organised seminars and workshops for them on such relevant topics as pollution prevention and control, good housekeeping and how to improve environmental performance. The EPD also likes to promote examples of good green practices. In 2002 a study mission to Japan was organised to share experiences with our counterparts and explore future collaboration opportunities. Thirty delegates from food and restaurant associations and related government departments joined the trip. They learned about green practices and environmental management in the Japanese food industry, and established contacts with restaurants and government officials there. An interesting finding was that Japanese restaurants do not necessarily have better technology than Hong Kong, but they spend more time on maintenance and cleaning.

The success of this partnership has not eliminated offences - the EPD continues to crack down on offenders, as described in the Enforcement chapter of this report. But fewer offences are being committed and communication has improved. The experience with the construction industry has served as a model for partnerships with restaurants, vehicle repair shops and property management companies.

These partnerships also involve environmental training for workers and specially-designed handbooks and seminars. In addition, restaurants and vehicle repair shops are experimenting with new pollution control equipment. Restaurants are testing devices that remove grease and oil and control cooking fume odours, while garages are installing recently-tested devices to control harmful volatile organic compounds emitted during paint spraying. Other initiatives include a green restaurant website (http://www.greenrestaurant-hk.org), a conference for several thousand participants in the food and restaurant trade in July 2002, and a study mission to Japan in 2002 to see green practices in restaurants there. Vehicle repair workshops, meanwhile, are helping to police themselves. Twenty ambassadors from the Environmental Vehicle Repair Association have joined hands with 30 ambassadors from the Hong Kong Vehicle Repair Merchants Association to advise their colleagues on controlling pollution.

The food and restaurant trade were invited to a conference on reducing pollution

Fumes and noise pollution form vehicle repair workshops can be controlled

Publicity materials help to raise awareness and disseminate advice on good practices

Environmental workshops and seminars were organised for property management companies in October 2002

	Property Managers Become Ambassadors Composting was demonstrated at Kadoorie Farm The Environmental Campaign Committee has an extensive Environmental Protection Ambassador scheme which, until recently, has been targeted at students and community groups. Since 2002, it has been extended to the property management sector and resident representatives. In 2002, about 5 000 Environmental Protection Ambassadors for Property Management were appointed. They have been given training in green living, covering such topics as waste reduction and energy conservation, and sent out to educate other residents. The Hong Kong Association of Property Management Co Ltd is involved in the scheme. Property managers and residents' representatives are encouraged to borrow materials such as environmental games and display panels from the EPD, and even invite EPD officers to come and talk about specific issues. Recent interest has been shown in composting and a visit was arranged to the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden so ambassadors could see composting in action.

Complaints and prosecutions were the impetus for the formal partnerships described above, but they are not the only basis for reaching out to potential polluters. Sometimes specific issues require urgent attention, such as waste arisings. No offences are being committed, but there are serious environmental consequences if operators do not improve their performance. Partnerships are the most effective way to address such issues.

Hong Kong has a serious waste disposal problem, with landfills filling up much more quickly than anticipated (see the Waste chapter for details). Apart from exploring waste management technologies and investigating sites for new landfills, the EPD also has an active programme to encourage waste reduction with partners in various sectors.

Construction waste is a major load on landfills so a task force has been set up to promote waste reduction and recycling. The task force is chaired by the Hong Kong Construction Association and, among many things, it has facilitated the use of recycled aggregates in construction works, issued a set of publicity materials for the trade including a VCD, and set up a website on construction waste reduction (http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/waste/cdm). It has also developed a waste management plan and guidelines for operators.

Household waste is another concern. Task forces have been set up with both private and public housing estates to educate residents and explore opportunities for waste recovery. A waste recycling campaign has been launched through the Environmental Campaign Committee in 1 024 private estates and 176 public estates.

	Working with Accountants The EPD has been reaching out to accountants to offer green information and advice Accountants have joined industrial and construction operators in having a partnership tailored to their needs. The Community Relations Unit of the EPD set up a programme in 2002 to train accountants in environmental management. Some were also interested in environmental audits and training in this is being explored. The Hong Kong Society of Accountants has given strong support to the partnership. Accountants who attend green management workshops receive points for continuing education. Several seminars, on such topics as environmental management systems, the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance and environmental protection in Hong Kong, were arranged during the year, attended by more than 900 accountants. Visits to environmental facilities and conservation sites were also organised to enhance their understanding of environmental efforts in Hong Kong. This programme will be on-going and more seminars and activities will be arranged in future.

Working groups on waste have also been established with public transport companies, the Airport Authority, hotels, hostels, recreation clubs, universities, tertiary institutes, the recycling trade, the packaging trade and retailers. Hospitals and clinics are also working with the EPD to control their waste, although this requires special arrangements due to the potentially dangerous nature of the waste. To facilitate environmental education and environmental management, schools have installed recycling bins to collect recyclables and also to educate students on waste reduction. At the producer end, the EPD and mobile phone industry have devised a scheme in which the industry takes back used batteries for recycling. Supermarkets are also taking back clean plastic bags for recycling.

By talking to the various parties, educating them about the waste problem and hearing their concerns, the EPD has been able to help introduce a wide range of waste reduction programmes. There is still room for improvement, but in less than five years, waste partnerships are helping to ensure more people recover waste for re-use and recycling.

	EIA Training and Capacity Building Programme Other government departments are important partners in tackling a range of environmental issues. In November 2002, the EPD started delivering an EIA Training and Capacity Building Programme for Government Works Departments to enhance their understanding of the EIA mechanism. A total of 200 engineers from all works departments attended eight two-day workshops, customised to meet their department's needs. These workshops were a good forum for sharing EIA knowledge and experience, and strengthening communication.

Other issues besides waste are also the focus of partnerships. The introduction of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) in 1998 brought about the need to raise awareness and liaise with project proponents, EIA consultants and contractors. Since 2000, the EPD has set up four EIAO User Liaison Groups with government departments, consultants, utility companies, and contractors and private developers. Regular liaison meetings are held to discuss issues of environmental concern and jointly work on guidance materials. The four groups were brought together for the first time in May 2002 for a major multi-stakeholder congress on environmental assessment. It was a unique and fruitful session for raising awareness and letting stakeholders hear each other's perspective.

Air pollution is another focus for partnerships. All stakeholders are consulted in the development of new initiatives, particularly under the motor vehicle emissions control programme. Regular meetings are also held on noise control with the railways, Highways Department and Airport Authority. Other partnerships will continue to be forged as the need arises.


A single government department like the EPD cannot hope to protect and improve the environment on its own. It needs co-operation and input from everyone in the community. This is where partnerships come in. The EPD is trying to foster greater environmental responsibility among companies, organisations and other government departments.

On a crude level, partnerships help companies to avoid prosecution by helping them to obey the law. But this is not the ultimate goal. Operators are encouraged to not only comply with the law, but take actions beyond that to help improve the environment and make Hong Kong a cleaner and healthier place to live.

	Carrot and Stick Approach The EPD uses partnerships to prevent pollution problems at the outset of a project. Sometimes this does not work, in which case enforcement action is taken. But a dialogue is maintained with the offender anyway to try to improve the problem. This happened in early 2002 with the Ma On Shan Railway project, which is being developed by the Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC). The EPD met with senior project managers before work started to explain the legal environmental requirements and provide training. Nonetheless, once work started, a lot of complaints were received. The EPD instigated prosecution actions against the KCRC and its contractors, which had some impact. More meetings were organised. This time the KCRC set up a hotline and undertook measures to control pollution at the site. As a result, complaints have dropped off and no offences have been detected at the site.

	Highlights of 2002 • Co-organised three major events for the property management, restaurant and construction trades. • Established a formal partnership with the Environmental Vehicle Repair Association, further strengthening collaboration with the trade. • Developed an Organic Vapour Absorption Unit, together with detailed technical specifications, for use in vehicle repair workshops. • Formed a liaison group with the Hong Kong Association of Property Management Companies to serve as a central forum to discuss environmental issues with the trade. • Joined forces with a major private property management company to promote a year-round waste reduction and recovery programme. More than 180 000 households in 234 estates participated, with waste reduced by 10 300 tonnes and another 14 600 tonnes of waste recovered. • Trained about 5 000 environmental protection ambassadors in the property management sector. • Set up a Green Partnership Programme to train accountants in environmental management.

	Looking Ahead • Develop guidebooks, VCDs and websites on good practices for the construction, vehicle repair and property management trades. • Organise structured training and seminars for managers and operators in these trades. • Collaborate with universities and research institutes to develop new pollution control technologies for the trades. • Enhance the "Restaurant Help Desk" service to include a Meet-the-Advisor service to provide technical advice on specific problems. • Join forces with the Hong Kong Society of Accountants to emphasise corporate environmental and sustainability reporting through accountancy, in the next Hong Kong Eco-Business Awards.