Hands Across the Boundary
Hong Kong has been addressing environmental issues with our neighbours in the Mainland for almost two decades. The Hong Kong-Guangdong Joint Working Group on Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection is a central focus for these efforts. It met in December 2007 to review progress on a number of co-operative issues and identify main tasks for 2008. Regional air pollution will continue to be a major priority, together with the promotion of cleaner production and implementation of a joint programme on controlling water pollution in Deep Bay (Shenzhen Bay).
Water pollution in our shared water bodies is an on-going concern, although it has received less media attention than air pollution. A 15-year programme for cleaning up Deep Bay, launched in 2000, was reviewed in 2007 and new water quality improvement and pollution load reduction targets were agreed. We also have a programme for managing water quality in Mirs Bay, and in 2007 we completed a water quality model for the Pearl River Delta with Guangdong which will form the basis for devising management strategies across the delta.
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Ms Anissa Wong, Permanent Secretary for the Environment, and Ms GUO Yu Rong, Director of the Shenzhen Environmental Protection Bureau, attend the signing ceremony of the Agreement on Enhancing Co-operation on Environmental Protection between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. |
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Apart from the Joint Working Group, the EPD also co-operates with our counterparts in the Shenzhen Environmental Protection Bureau. In December 2007 we signed an Agreement on Enhancing Co-operation on Environmental Protection to strengthen our ties.
Cross-Boundary Infrastructure and the Environment
Roads and other infrastructure linking Hong Kong and Mainland China are increasing in number. In July 2007 the Shenzhen Bay Bridge became the fourth vehicular boundary crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. As with any infrastructure project, there were environmental issues to address. What is interesting about this project is that the Shenzhen section of the bridge became Hong Kong territory on the day when it was opened to traffic and its environmental impacts during operation are controlled under the same requirements as the Hong Kong section.
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| The opening of Shenzhen Bay Bridge in July 2007. |
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The Highways Department, as project proponent, was issued environment permits under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance for the operation of the entire bridge. It has now set up environmental monitoring and audit programmes to ensure the bridge's operations meet the appropriate requirements in such areas as cleaning the carriageway, monitoring surface run-off and recording bird mortality caused by collision with the bridge. |
Persistent Organic Pollutants
China is a Party to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), and by extension the Convention is applicable to Hong Kong. China began implementing its National Implementation Plan (NIP) to meet the Stockholm Convention's requirements in July 2007. Hong Kong has devised its own plan under the NIP umbrella, which we will implement over the next few years to manage POPs and, where feasible, eliminate them from our environment.
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| An EPD representative (right) gives a presentation on "NIP – the Hong Kong Component" at the Launching Conference of China's NIP for the Stockholm Convention in July 2007 in Beijing. |
One step in that direction is the Hazardous Chemicals Control Ordinance, which was passed by the Legislative Council in 2007. The ordinance regulates the import, export, manufacture and use of non-pesticide hazardous chemicals that are potentially harmful to human health and the environment.
Examples of Cleaner Production
The Cleaner Production Technical Support Pilot Project was completed in 2007 and provided examples of how factories in the Pearl River Delta region can improve their environmental performance while at the same time benefit from cutting production costs through energy saving and reduction in material consumption. Some examples of cleaner production projects implemented by the participating factories are described below:
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C&C Joint Printing Co (HK) Ltd cut about RMB 50,000 a year from the electricity bill at its Shenzhen factory by installing more energy efficient lighting. It saved another RMB 80,000 by making use of waste heat from water-cooled chillers to heat water for dormitory use. It also saved 250 000 waste metal cans and reduced wastage of printing ink by 70 per cent by switching to a centralised printing ink supply system. |
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Kingdom Fine Metal Ltd reduced its consumption of paint and solvents by 18 per cent when it switched to high-volume, low-pressure spray paint guns. Cleaner production methods also enabled it to reduce its volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions by 50 tonnes. |
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Leo Paper Group reduced its VOC emissions by 350 tonnes by switching from a solvent-based adhesive to a water-based one in its lamination process. It also saved 1.9 million kilowatt hours per year in electricity consumption through such measures as switching to energy efficient lighting and installing a centralised vacuum pump system. |
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Chong Ka (Qing Yuan) Enterprises Ltd reduced its fuel bill by RMB 60,000 a year when it installed a coal economiser (photo left) in its industrial boiler (photo right) and adopted other energy saving measures. |
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