EPD Partnership with Trade & Industry

The transport industry has a variety of impacts on the environment, in particular noise and air pollution. The EPD has been working with operators in all areas of the industry to encourage them to reduce their impacts. Our programme to control motor vehicle emissions has received the most attention. We are also working in partnership with operators to address a number of other concerns, including transport noise, vehicle tyre disposal, recovery of waste from the airport and public transport venues, pollution from vehicle repair workshops, and fumes from petrol-filling stations.

Motor Vehicle Emission Control Programmes

Diesel vehicle maintenance workshops jointly organised by EPD, HKPC and VTC

Working together with stakeholders has been a guiding principle of the EPD's motor vehicle emission control programmes. We consult concerned parties on new initiatives or concerns as soon as possible. We also work with them to develop practical solutions to air pollution from vehicles, either through committees or on an adhoc basis. The various committees have a wide membership between them. They include representatives from the EPD, motor vehicle and related industries, other Government departments, academia, and the representative of the transport trades in the Legislative Council. The committees have steered trials of LPG taxis, alternative fuel light buses, diesel oxidation catalysts and biodiesel.

The EPD has also worked with concerned parties to reduce emissions through other measures. The dynamometer test has been introduced. Emission requirements for newly registered vehicles have been tightened. The best motor vehicle fuels that can be made available on a mass scale have been introduced. And advanced emission control devices have been tested.

Noise from Railways, Roads and the Airport

The EPD holds regular liaison meetings with the Mass Transit Railway Corporation, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, the Highways Department, the Civil Aviation Department and the Airport Authority of Hong Kong to address noise problems arising from their operations, maintenance and construction activities.

The railway companies have embarked on noise abatement programmes. They have carried out regular rail and wheel grinding, installed wheel dampers, replaced motor alternators with quieter alternative and erected track-side barriers at locations close to residential areas. The EPD will continue to explore new advances in quieter railway operations with the railway companies.

The EPD and the Highways Department are jointly studying low-noise road surface materials that would be suitable for Hong Kong. They have published guidelines on noise barrier design which address the aesthetic and landscape considerations as well as structural and noise performance.

The Civil Aviation Department has gradually increased the number of terminals which monitor flight noise at strategic locations. There are now 16 noise terminals in the Noise and Flight Track Monitoring Network. The Airport Authority Hong Kong has also adopted noise abatement procedures for take-off and landing and is managing flight tracks to minimise the noise impacts from aircrafts.

The EPD also provides advice and assistance on reducing transport noise. We organise and participate in seminars. We also publish guidelines, booklets, practice notes and leaflets for the various industries, to help them follow noise control requirements and inform their staff on how to do so.

Before and after the installation of noise enclosure near Tai Po Market

Grinding of rail in progress

Locations of aircraft noise monitoring stations

Waste from Public Transport Companies and the Airport

Waste separation bins installed in public transport sector.

A working group on waste reduction was set up in April 2000 with members from the EPD, Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC), KCRC-East Rail and Light Rail Transit, Hong Kong Tramways, Peak Tramways, Star Ferry, New World First Ferry and Shun Tak Holdings.

As a result, waste separation bins are being set up in most public transport stations around Hong Kong, as part of an effort to implement green practices in public transport companies.

The bins are in place at all piers of Star Ferry and New World Ferry and at all 13 KCRC-East Rail stations. Bins for waste paper have also been established in KCRC-Light Rail stations including Tuen Mun Ferry Pier Terminus, Tuen Mun Center Station, Siu Hong Station and Yuen Long Terminus, as well as 41 MTRC stations. Public transport companies are also being advised through the working group on how to reduce and recover waste in their offices.

The Airport Authority has set up a waste recycling programme and the EPD is helping it to extend this programme to all of its business partners. The programme involves the collection of waste paper, aluminium cans and toner cartridges for recycling. In the first half of 2002, an average 51.8 tonnes of waste paper was collected each month from the Authority's premises and on-site Government departments, along with 587 kilogrammes of aluminium cans and 60 toner cartridges.

Assessing the Impacts from Transport

The EPD maintains regular links with transport operators and Government departments related to transport. This enables us to discuss any major environmental issues arising from new or existing projects, and to give advice.

Issues are also addressed through the environmental impact assessment process, which is well entrenched in Hong Kong through the EIA Ordinance. Impacts are identified and addressed at an early stage and information is made public. A Cyber Help Bench was launched in January 2002 to consolidate all EIAO information in a single page and make it easier for the public to get information. The site also includes good examples and guidance notes, as well as the entire Ordinance, the Technical Memorandum on EIA Process and all approved EIA reports and Permits.

ISO 14001 EMS and Environmental Performance Reporting

The EPD has been encouraging the transportation sector, and all private organisations, to improve their environmental performance since 1994. A major focus of these efforts is the adoption of the ISO 14001 environmental management system and environmental reporting. These tools have been promoted by the EPD over the years through seminars and workshops and through self-help guidebooks (available at our website).

By March 2006, 21 ISO 14001 certificates had been issued to 18 transportation companies, including a leading bus company and 2 major railway corporations. Hong Kong companies as a whole have been issued with 413 certificates.

A list of certified organisations is posted on the EPD's website. The information on transport companies includes details of why they implemented ISO 14001 and what benefits they gained. The aim is to encourage others in the industry to get certified.
On environmental reporting, four transport companies have produced reports of their performance. These include two local railway corporations, a bus company and a local airline.

Honorable guests were officiating the opening ceremony.

Honorable guests were testing a LPG taxi.

Controlling Pollution from Vehicle Repair Workshops

The EPD and the Hong Kong Vehicle Repair Merchants Association have been collaborating since late 2000 to control air, noise and other pollution from garages. When the EPD receives a complaint about pollution against workshop that had joined the collaboration scheme, the Association is informed and sends out an "ambassador" to help resolve the problem. The EPD is kept fully briefed on the situation. This arrangement has contributed to a general improvement in compliance. In September 2002, the Environmental Vehicle Repairers Association also formed collaboration with EPD.

Up to now more than 340 garages have joined the collaboration programme. District Councilors in areas with high concentration of garages were briefed on the scheme and supported it. The EPD has organized two open seminars for garage owners. It has also given talks on good practices to apprentices at the Automobile Industry Training Centre of the Vocational Training Council. Ten workshops have been held on paint-spraying techniques that are more environmentally friendly, and were well received by garage operators.

Additionally, the EPD initiated a joint study with the Association and the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) on controlling volatile organic compounds from the repairing activities, such as car painting with the use of a portable activated carbon air filtration system. Based on the promising results in the trial study, HKPC was commissioned to produce technical specifications of the activated carbon adsorption system for the trade’s reference. Two fixed installations with different configuration (wall-mounted and ceiling-mounted) were installed at one medium size garage and one small size garage respectively for the study. In promoting the system and its technical specifications to the trade, 1 seminar, 7 plant visits and 6 road shows were arranged between October 2002 and January 2003.

Another highlight of the partnership programme was a Smoky Vehicle Testing Day held in July 2002. The event helped raise awareness of the importance of vehicle maintenance in preventing pollution. The EPD organized the event with the Association and the Kowloon City District Council.

EPD also participated in the 37th Hong Kong Products Expo at Tamar Site from 14 December 2002 to 6 January 2003. The theme of EPD's exhibition was "Partnership Programmes with the Community for a Better Environment". Vehicle repair trade was one of the partnership programmes with display panels at the EPD exhibition booth. This helped promote the environmental awareness and to the government's efforts in helping the trade to the public. The Chairperson of the trade association was interviewed by the Radio Television Hong Kong to share his experience on the partnership programme with the public. The last episode of the Expo was "The Environmental Day" held on 4 January 2003 which featured with variety shows. Numerous pop singers were present and helped disseminate the environmental messages to the trade and the public.

In mid-January 2004, EPD released to the trade practitioners a comprehensive and user friendly environmental guidebook (Chinese Version only) on environmental friendly vehicle repairing practices and summary of the requirements of environmental laws. The guidebook is supplemented by a video CD (Chinese Version only) showing the pollution control measures. By now, there is a set of good educational tool available for reference by the trade.

In order to encourage the vehicle repairing trade to adopt the environmentally responsible practices as given in the EPD guidebook and VCD, EPD organised a Green Garage Election 2004 for the small and medium sized garages in early 2004. The purpose of the Election is to give recognition to those environmentally responsible vehicle repair workshops. The event was co-organised with the two leading trade associations, namely the Hong Kong Vehicle Repair Merchants Association Ltd. and the Environmental Vehicle Repairers Association. A judging panel was formed with representatives from institutions, trade associations, car owners association and EPD. The event attracted about 160 entries from the small and medium sized garages in Hong Kong. The award presentation ceremony to the winners was held at East Point City in May 2004.

As part of the Green Garage Election 2004 programme, students of the Department of Automobile Engineering from the Institute of Vocational Education and the Automobile Industry Training Centre of Vocational Training Council were invited to participate in the "Green Garage Logo Design Competition". The competition helped enhance the awareness on green management of garage operations. The three winners were presented with certificates at the award presentation ceremony.

In July 2004, the EPD established a Compliance Assistance Office (renamed as Business Facilitation Office in April 2005) to strengthen the partnership programme with trades and industries. The Business Facilitation Office is dedicated to provide support to targeted trades and industries to facilitate compliance with environmental requirements and adoption of green practices.

To provide an additional platform to disseminate relevant information to the VRW trade practitioners as well as to other interested groups and the public, a new Green Garage website was developed and launched in January 2005. Updated environmental information can be browsed through the internet.

In addition to the Green Garage Website, a Help Desk to Help the Trade service (Hotline telephone number: 2838 3111) has been launched in February 2005 to provide a comprehensive one-stop source of information to the targeted trades, and to advise on the environmental standards and legislation, and the reference information available to comply with the requirements.

Recycling Vehicle Tyres

A producer responsibility scheme is being investigated for used vehicle tyres. Manufacturers would take responsibility for collecting used or end-of-life tyres for recycling or other treatment. The EPD has held meetings and a brainstorming session with the industry, which is now gathering views from individual stakeholders.

Recovering Vapour From Filling Stations

The EPD and oil companies formed a joint study team to investigate ways of controlling the petrol vapours emitted when vehicles are being refuelled. The results have been used to help formulate a control plan.

Ambassadors of Hong Kong Vehicle Repairing Merchants Association Limited are promoting the partnership programme at vehicle testing centre.

Ambassadors are promoting environmental compliance to a vehicle repair workshop owner

Environmental Seminar for Vehicle Repair Trade Practitioners

Environmental guidebook for vehicle repairing workshops

Video CD showing the pollution control measures for vehicle repairing workshops

Winners of Green Garage Logo Design Competition 2004

Green Garage website