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Chapter 1. The Rationale - Why Now |
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Introduction |
| 1. |
Each year, Hong Kong produces millions
of tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW). MSW requires efficient collection,
transfer and disposal. In 2004, a total of 5.7 million tonnes were
generated, of which 2.3 million tonnes (40%) were recovered and 3.4
million tonnes (60%) were disposed of at landfills. The latter is
creating a real and pressing burden on the landfills. At the current
rate of solid waste generation, our landfills will be full in 6 to
10 years, posing the question: what do we do with our waste then? |
| 2. |
Clearly, Hong Kong must
find a system of managing MSW now and in the years to come that is
economically, financially and environmentally sound. As an
advanced society, Hong Kong must recognise that tackling its waste
problems is part of the much larger challenge of becoming a sustainable
city. In response to this challenge, the Government has developed
this Policy Framework on the measures to manage MSW, their implications
and implementation for the 10 years from now until 2014. |
| 3. |
But what happens beyond the timeframe of the
Policy Framework? We must understand that sustainable development
is not about just 10 years, or 20 years, or even 50 years but a
long-term quest that will ensure that future generations enjoy the
social, economic and environmental benefits that we have now. It
is with this fundamental philosophy foremost in mind that the Government
has framed the Policy Framework to meet these needs. |
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The Policy Framework |
| 4. |
The Policy Framework describes the urgency of
our growing MSW problems, pinpoints what problems and pressures are
facing Hong Kong in MSW management, and explains how this strategy
impinges on a healthy future. It presses home the reasons for the
concerted efforts of the community - households, businesses and industries,
as well as the Government - to solve the problems, while outlining
measures and initiatives already underway and future plans for discussion
and comment. |
| 5. |
MSW management is set in the important
context of working towards a sustainable future, and the Policy Framework
describes how it fits into the process that has led to the Government's
first strategy devoted specifically to sustainable development. We
set out the strategy developed directly as a result of the engagement
process conducted by the Council for Sustainable Development (SDC).
We also spell out what individuals as members of households, workers
or owners of businesses, and the Hong Kong community as a whole will
be required to do to accomplish their shares of the efforts in bringing
MSW levels down. |
| 6. |
That the focus of the Policy Framework is on one
kind of waste, specifically MSW; does not imply that other kinds of
waste are less important. On the contrary, the Policy Framework gives
due consideration to a stream of waste that is significant in its
volume, its economic, social and environmental impacts and its implications
for Hong Kong's future. |
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Sustainable
Development on MSW Management |
| 7. |
Growing concerns about Hong Kong's
MSW have been voiced at least since 1994. The Waste Reduction Study
completed then set out recommendations based on extensive research
into policy options and other methods to drastically cut the waste
volume. These recommendations were carried forward in the Waste Reduction
Framework Plan (WRFP) promulgated in 1998. |
| 8. |
The Government has been working towards delivery
of the targets set out in the WRFP. We are committed to reviewing
the WRFP, and since we are approaching the end of the planning horizon
of the WRFP, the Government has to formulate a new strategy. In recognition
of the scale of the waste problem facing Hong Kong, it was fitting
that solid waste management was chosen by the SDC in 2004 as one of
three pilot areas, along with renewable energy and urban living space,
in the engagement process to obtain stakeholders' views on what might
be done to promote sustainable practices in these important areas. |
| 9. |
Debates, discussions and concerns expressed by
business people, community leaders, academics, non-government organisations
(NGOs), government representatives, students and members of the general
public came to conclusions as follows:
| • |
We should aim to reduce
waste in the first place by using fewer materials or
avoiding the use of certain materials altogether; |
| • |
We need to accept that there is a financial
implication of dealing with waste in Hong Kong and that we should
be prepared to pay waste disposal costs; |
| • |
Involving businesses through producer
responsibility schemes (PRSs) will help promote recycling
and waste reduction at source; |
| • |
The simple step of separating
our waste into reusable materials and materials that
require disposal will result in more MSW being recovered for
either reuse or recycling; and |
| • |
The burden on Hong Kong's landfills can be
reduced through reuse, recovery, recycling
and the use of waste treatment technologies. |
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| 10. |
In its report Making Choices for Our Future: Report
on the Engagement Process for a First Sustainable Development Strategy
(February 2005), the SDC formalised these points into a set of recommendations
on promoting sustainable practices in solid waste management. |
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Recommendations
of the SDC on Solid Waste Management |
| 1. |
The Government should further promote
solid waste recovery and recycling. |
| 2. |
Legislation for PRSs should be introduced. |
| 3. |
Solid waste recovery targets of 45% and 50%
by 2009 and 2014 respectively should be achieved in Hong Kong. |
| 4. |
The Government should identify alternative forms
of waste treatment, in order to reduce the amount of solid waste
that is disposed of in landfills. |
| 5. |
The Government should introduce legislation
on direct MSW charges, in order to encourage households and businesses
to reduce the waste volume. |
| 6. |
The Government should review the current
waste management mechanism.
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| Table 1. The SDC states the wishes of the stakeholders |
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Summary |
| 11. |
The importance of using stakeholder-based
discussion in the open and broad-based consultation as employed
by the SDC cannot be over-emphasised. By allowing the community
at large the opportunity to articulate their values and aspirations
on waste and on how to secure a sustainable future for Hong Kong,
it gives them ownership - and, ultimately, responsibility. Hence,
it is possible for all of us to see where and how we fit into the
waste generation and management structure. |
| 12. |
On the Government's part, the process of engagement
has provided important insight into both what stakeholders and the
wider community understand of Hong Kong's MSW problems, and how
they think the problems may best be managed. |
| 13. |
With this feedback firmly in hand, the Government
needs to build on the momentum over this critical process in an
area of fundamental importance to all our future : this is the
importance of the Policy Framework.
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