Summary - Environment Hong Kong 2004

OUR VISION

Is of a Hong Kong

•	which enjoys an environment that is both healthy and pleasant;
•	in which the community places a premium on sustaining such an environment for both themselves and future generations.

OUR MISSION

Is to make our contribution towards realising this vision by applying our professional knowledge and judgment and drawing on our experience in the environmental field

•	to formulate and implement plans to improve and safeguard the environment;
•	to increase community awareness of environmental issues;
•	to implement environmental protection legislation;
•	to participate in the town planning process;

with a view to achieving and maintaining a high standard of environmental quality.

The government has spent many billions of dollars to provide cleaner air and water, safer waste disposal and other environmental services, but much more still needs to be spent to ensure a healthy environment. The government can no longer afford to foot the bill without contributions from the community.

	Water quality in Victoria Harbour and at beaches has improved significantly over the past decade. Major air pollutants at roadside levels have been reduced by some 10 % to 20 % since 1999. New waste facilities were built in the 1990s to strict environmental controls.
	Partnerships have been launched with several industries, resulting in fewer pollution complaints and prosecutions.
	Environmental assessment and planning have been greatly improved, thereby helping to prevent problems.
	Environmental awareness programmes have spread to all sectors of the community.

	Landfill space is running out. New waste treatment and disposal facilities are being investigated but they will be costly.
	Agreement is still needed on the best treatment and disposal options for sewage collected from around Victoria Harbour. A higher level of treatment will be costly.
	Regional air pollution is being addressed jointly with Guangdong but will require investment to further reduce emissions from motor vehicles and power plants.

Most environmental services are now provided free of charge, but this cannot continue. The community will have to decide how much it is willing to pay for a cleaner, healthier environment.

The EPD runs many programmes to raise community awareness and encourage greener habits, especially in regards to waste separation and recycling. These programmes began in the 1990s and now involve almost every sector of society.

Community Awareness

Environmental Resource Centres have been opened in Wan Chai, Tsuen Wan and, in 2003, Fanling. These provide public access to a wide range of environmental information. A Mobile Environmental Resource Centre also travels around Hong Kong, visiting housing estates and shopping malls.

The EPD and the Environmental Campaign Committee train people in various sectors to educate their peers about the environment and organise green activities. Thousands of primary and secondary school students are trained as Environmental Protection Ambassadors each year, along with representatives from youth groups, the elderly, property managers and housing estate residents. In 2003, company-specific ambassadors were trained, at the Hang Seng Bank.

The EPD also completed a Green Leader programme in 2003 in which 10 000 representatives from 10 different sectors were given green leadership training.

Waste recycling programmes have been established in housing estates, schools, villages and older neighbourhoods. By the end of 2003 the Waste Recycling Campaign in Housing Estates reached 1 333 public and private housing estates covering some 1.58 million households.

The EPD has put increasing resources into improving the services it offers to the public, and developing partnerships with industry. The goal is to be more accountable and to educate stakeholders about their rights and responsibilities towards the environment.

Customer Service and Partnership

We review our performance pledge annually. For 2002-03, we fully complied with our performance pledge.

Our Customer Service Centre handles complaints and enquiries from the public. In 2003 more than 40 per cent of complaints and more than 94 per cent of enquiries were resolved over the phone by trained telephone operators.

The EPD website was improved during the year to provide broader access to information by the public and trade operators.

The EPD has developed formal partnerships in recent years with the construction industry, restaurants, vehicle repair workshops and property management companies. This has helped to reduce the number of complaints and prosecutions involving these operators, a trend that continued in 2003.

The EPD also continued to offer training and support to the private sector and other government departments to help them improve their environmental performance.

Hong Kong's environmental assessment and planning system is one of the most transparent in the world, but there is always room for improvement, especially in the area of public involvement. The EPD is working with other government departments and private developers to promote the idea of continuous public involvement in all major projects that affect the environment.

Environmental Assessment and Planning

All major developments go through a statutory environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. Project profiles and EIA reports are placed on the EPD website for public comment. The public also has access to environmental monitoring and audit results for approved projects. Still, problems arise and it is felt these could be avoided through greater public involvement. A government circular on the EIA process in 2003 promoted early public consultation on all major projects.

The EPD delivered an EIA Training and Capacity Building Programme to government works departments, private and public sector corporations, construction industry and professional bodies in 2003 to enhance their understanding of the EIA mechanism. We also produced a Training Manual for the EIA mechanism and launched a web based e-Learning Platform for the EIA mechanism.

The EPD has taken the lead, internationally, in conducting strategic environmental assessments (SEAs). In 2003 an interim SEA Manual was produced which included advice on public involvement. This interim manual has also been presented to the International Association for Impact Assessment's Annual Meeting.

Regional air pollution has become a major concern for Hong Kong and Guangdong. Both administrations have agreed on targets to reduce the problem. In 2003, we completed and endorsed an action plan to achieve those targets.

Air

A programme announced in 1999 has successfully reduced roadside particulates by 13%, nitrogen oxide levels by 23% and smoky vehicle spottings by 74%. This programme needs to continue and be enhanced.

The programme so far has involved switching nearly all taxis to LPG, encouraging public light buses to do the same and fitting anti-pollution devices on older diesel vehicles.

Power plants are one of Hong Kong's main contributors to regional air pollution. Much has already been done to reduce emissions and further reductions could be difficult. An emissions trading scheme is being explored.

Between 1990 and 2002, power plants reduced emissions by 45% despite a 60% increase in electricity consumption.

Reducing air pollution may be costly. The EPD will seek support for anti-pollution measures from the affected parties and the community.

Hong Kong's crowded living environment means noise is an on-going concern. The EPD has introduced a number of programmes to reduce noise over the years, but public awareness has not kept pace. In 2003 efforts were focused on improving people's understanding of the causes and solutions to noise.

Noise

A noise education website was launched, with features tailored to the general public, students and professionals. A CD-ROM on noise was also produced with input from more than 100 teachers, and distributed to schools and in the community.

A study was commissioned on the typical noise levels experienced by people in public venues, such as karaoke bars and country park, as well as in the home.

The EPD website was enhanced to enable builders to find out if other noise construction permits have been issued near their site, to assess the likely impacts of their project, and to submit permit applications on-line. Guidelines were issued on minimising potential noise problems from domestic renovation work.

The EPD will continue with efforts to reduce noise from existing roads where possible.

Hong Kong has developed programmes and built facilities to transfer, treat and dispose of waste to high international standards. Nonetheless, too much waste is being produced and the landfills could be full in seven to 11 years.

Waste

Waste loads are growing more quickly than the population, despite the fact Hong Kong recycles 41% of municipal solid waste. In 2003, studies on product responsibility schemes and a dry-wet waste separation trial were carried out to enhance existing recycling programmes.

Construction waste is another major component of waste going to landfills. Waste management plans were required of government works contractors in 2003, and construction waste charges were proposed.

The government has received 59 Expressions of Interest for introducing new waste management technologies to Hong Kong. These were subject to extensive study in 2003.

More landfill capacity needs to be identified in the next couple of years. A study was completed in 2003 on extending the existing landfills; each option will undergo detailed assessment in 2004. The 2003 study also looked at the sites for building new landfills.

The public will be consulted on the options for new waste management technologies or options in 2004, and on landfill extensions and proposed new landfill sites as studies into these are completed.

Many improvements have been achieved in Hong Kong's marine waters and rivers in recent years. Nonetheless, significant investment and effort are still needed to meet the public's growing aspirations for a clean and healthy water environment.

Water

The first stage of HATS was commissioned in late 2001 and brought immediate improvements to water quality in Victoria Harbour. However, some areas remain polluted and the rest of the scheme needs to be completed to clean up these areas.

In 2003 three major studies and trials on HATS were mostly completed, focusing on treatment and disposal options. A higher level of treatment will mean cleaner water, but it is much more costly than the present treatment. The public will be consulted on the findings in 2004.

Major improvements have been achieved in beach water quality since the late 1980s, when only nine beaches had good water quality. In 2003, 23 beaches were graded good. We have put in place a beach monitoring system that provides timely information to beach goers. The BBC praised our achievements in a news report on safe beaches in the region that was aired in 2003.

A water quality management plan for Mirs Bay was agreed to in 2003 by the Hong Kong-Guangdong Joint Working Group on Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection.

The EPD carries out extensive inspection and enforcement activities, against a background of higher community demands for a cleaner environment and tighter resources. Over the past two years, we have improved our handling of complaints, refined our enforcement and prosecution capabilities and introduced new technology and enforcement activities to ensure anti-pollution laws continue to be upheld.

Enforcement

About 20 000 complaints were received in 2003, similar to the level in 2002. There was a substantial increase in water and waste complaints, possibly prompted by concern about environmental hygiene during the SARS outbreak.

A pilot "beat" system for inspectors was introduced in 2003, and targeted enforcement work was carried out. Palm-held devices and other technology have also been introduced. The intention is to ensure inspection and complaint response efforts continue operating effectively, despite budget constraints.

The EPD published its prosecution policy in 2003 to enhance transparency. The number of prosecutions continued to drop, to 577 cases in 2003. This demonstrates that our efforts to encourage greater compliance - through partnership programmes with key polluting industries - are having a positive effect.