The EPD's work in recent years has been characterised by inclusiveness. We want to enable as many people and organisations as possible to help us protect the environment. That requires more public consultations and community programmes, as described elsewhere in this report. It also requires more formal, targeted support programmes for both operators and the public.

Over the past five years, the department has enhanced customer services with new technology that makes it easier to lodge a complaint and apply for licenses and permits. Partnerships have been established with key polluters to help them comply. And links have been fostered with other government departments and other governments to help us tackle specific problems. Underscoring these efforts is the recognition that the EPD cannot protect the environment on its own. It needs all the help it can get.

The foot soldiers in the battle to protect the environment are the citizens of Hong Kong. They are often the first to feel the effects of a polluting offence, be it noisy building work outside permitted hours or black smoke spewing from a nearby chimney. Their complaints to the EPD help us identify polluters, and in recent years we have made it much easier to receive and process complaints, as well as general enquiries.

A geographical information system facilitates EPD's field operations by pinpointing a target location and providing information on its history.

Callers speak to a telephone operator, not voice mail, and their calls are answered within three or four rings. The operators have access to a geographical information system, which enables them to pinpoint the exact location of the subject of complaint. The operators can also check if other complaints have been received, and if a permit or abatement notice has been issued. In 2004, 23 729 pollution complaint calls were received at our Customer Service Centre and 8 439 were resolved over the phone. EPD officers responded to all complaints within three working days, and other enquiries within five working days, thereby meeting our performance pledge.

The service was enhanced during the year by improving referrals to other departments for complaints outside our jurisdiction. Although this may not have provided the immediate answers that some customers wanted, the EPD received generally positive feedback in its periodic survey of customer services. 85 per cent of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with our services, a figure in line with previous surveys.

Another group of customers is operators who require permits and licences from the EPD. Different performance targets have been established for different applications - for example, nine days for a clinical waste disposal permit and 60 days for a review of an environmental impact assessment report - and these were generally met in 2004. The application procedure will be made easier in March 2005 when operators will be able to apply and pay fees online, and receive their permits or licences electronically, through the Environmental Protection Interactive Centre (EPIC) on our website (http://www.epd.gov.hk). The general public can also use the EPIC to obtain data about the environment (see box).

		The public can get tailor-made environmental information through EPIC. The Environmental Protection Interactive Centre is an on-line service featured on the EPD website (http://www.epd.gov.hk) that makes it much easier to get environmental information. Visitors can get tailor-made information by typing in parameters, such as a date and location for water quality. The service was set up in 2003 and will be further refined in 2005 to enable users to apply, pay for and receive licences and permits online.

Communicating with the public and operators is an important aspect of customer service, and the website is an important tool here. In 2004 it was enhanced to make it more reader friendly and to conform to the Government-wide design format of Common Look and Feel. A PDA version was also developed for certain webpages to facilitate mobile computing. The website provides access to a variety of environmental services and information, in addition to the EPIC. For example, an e-learning platform for environmental impact assessments helps project proponents and the public understand and apply the EIA process. A Green School Website promotes environmental management systems in schools. And a noise education site helps the public better understand noise pollution. These are only a few of the features of the website, which is also used to communicate with our formal partners.

		A video clip on the Customer Service Centre is being produced. A production house has been engaged to produce a promotional video of the Customer Service Centre. The aim is to promote better understanding of the centre's work and encourage more people to use its services. The video is expected to be completed in early 2005.

The EPD has developed formal partnerships with four industries that are the subject of many complaints, with the goal of helping them comply with environmental laws. The construction trade, restaurants, vehicle repair workshops and property management are given advice and technical support specific to their needs. The programme is believed to be a factor in the drop in overall prosecutions from a peak of 1 824 in 2000 to 586 in 2004.

The trend in partnerships is to provide a one-stop shop for each sector. Previously, services were ordinance-specific, based on the type of pollution rather than the type of polluter. Now, a single team deals with each sector through a helpdesk service set up at the end of 2004. For example, a contractor can find out which air, noise, waste and water regulations apply to its latest project with one enquiry. The service makes use of the EPD website, videos and other communication tools to help operators comply.

EPD partnership programmes with trades : (Clockwise from top left) 1) Restaurants; 2) Construction Industry; 3)Property Management Companies; and 4) Vehicle Repair Workshops.

Many activities were carried out with partners during the year. Two major events were organised with the Hong Kong Construction Association (HKCA). The HKCA Environmental Conference in June was sponsored by the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau and the EPD. The conference touched on general environmental issues and good work practices, and more than 160 people attended. In October over 500 people participated in a workshop on green construction practices organised by the EPD and HKCA. Interest was piqued by a new regulation that came into effect that month, making company directors liable for repeated noise offences (see Chapter 6 Noise for details). There was also much discussion about a new incentive scheme for using quieter construction equipment, improvements in the monitoring of the movement of excavated soil, and the logistical arrangements for the landfill charging scheme (see Chapter 7 Waste for details).

Restaurants were invited to a symposium on pollution control technologies in February and more than 600 people attended. Expert speakers from Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Britain and Mainland China shared their experiences and knowledge in pollution control. Restaurants face a number of issues - water treatment, disposal of grease trap waste, air and noise pollution control - and the EPD will likely organise more such events in future. The sector also participated in a mooncake containers recovery project (see box).

		Mr K K Kwok, Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works (Environment), (left) at the opening ceremony of the mooncake containers recovery campaign. A campaign to recover mooncake containers for recycling picked up speed in 2004. The campaign was first held in 2003 and 25 000 containers were collected. This year more than 42 000 containers were collected - a 70 per cent increase - and many more shops and restaurants agreed to be collection points. Towngas, for one, agreed to collect containers at all of its outlets. The autumn campaign attracted much attention in the media, as well as more than 1 300 enquiries from the public to the EPD's customer service hotline.

Vehicle repair workshops that developed good green practices were honoured in 2004 in the first Green Garage Election. Garages often are located in residential areas and face a number of pollution issues, such as noise, volatile organic chemical emissions from paint spray and chemical waste. A green guidebook for garages was released in January and this served as the basis for judging the election. Some 160 garages participated in the event, which was co-organised by the EPD, Hong Kong Vehicle Repair Merchants Association and Environmental Vehicle Repairers Association, and 19 awards were presented.

Environmental Protection Ambassadors from the property management sector help promote the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme.

Hundreds of residential housing estates were given a free audit of their environmental performance when they participated in a district-based building management competition in 2004. Property managers were also closely involved in waste separation programmes throughout the year. A trial was conducted at 13 housing estates to separate waste on each floor of residential blocks, instead of the ground floor only, and the property managers helped to implement the scheme (see Chapter 7 Waste for details). Some 159 of them were also trained as Property Manager Environmental Protection Ambassadors, who participated in projects to recycle mobile phone batteries and provided input on the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme by attending seminars and helping with public exhibitions (see Chapter 2 Community Awareness for details).

The four industry partners are by no means the EPD's only formal collaborators in environmental protection. Much of our work these days involves co-operating with other departments, Mainland colleagues and overseas governments. They provide information, insight and the ability to help tackle environmental challenges from angles outside the EPD's remit.

In waste, for example, the issue of importing potentially hazardous waste for recycling is being dealt with on three levels. Locally, the Planning, Immigration and Customs and Excise departments are working with the EPD on the issue. Regionally, the Mainland is helping with enforcement. And internationally, major exporters are co-operating by providing information on shipments (see Chapter 9 Environmental Compliance for details).

With noise pollution, the EPD and Highways Department are undertaking exchanges so they can better understand each other's needs and constraints (see Chapter 6 Noise for details). With air and water pollution, the increasing importance of regional pollution has led to stepped-up co-operation with Guangdong (see Chapter 5 Air and Chapter 8 Water for details).

These exchanges are based on both formal and informal agreements to co-operate on pollution control. In 2004 a new and significant formal arrangement was agreed with the State Environmental Protection Agency to hold staff exchanges on environmental impact assessments (see Chapter 4 Environmental Assessment and Planning for details).

The expanding web of partners enhances the EPD's ability to protect the environment in two ways. On the one hand, the EPD is able to provide support and clarify misunderstandings to its target group, potential polluters. On the other hand, the public, other departments and other governments are able to provide information and co-operate in preventing or stopping pollution. Without these networks, the department would be a lone and less effective force in environmental protection.

		Dr Liao of the South China Agricultural University delivers a talk to a full house of over 150 farmers. Pig waste treatment is an on-going concern in Hong Kong, given the presence of pig farms and the highly polluting nature of animal's waste. The EPD organised a workshop in February 2004 on the latest treatment for pig waste. Experts from the South China Agricultural University and the Universiti Putra Malaysia were among the invited speakers. More than 150 farmers attended the workshop, along with about 100 staff from the EPD and Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.

Enable operators to apply, pay for and receive licences and permits online, through the Environmental Protection Interactive Centre. Expand the Property Management Partnership Network to cover other government departments, professional institutes, contractor associations and NGOs. Promote the adoption of green production technology and good management practices by the business community.