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Chemical
Waste Management in Hong Kong
Chemical
wastes are liquid, semi-solid and solid wastes which are hazardous
in nature or constitute a risk of pollution to the environment.
Indiscriminate disposal of chemical waste has very serious
health, safety and environmental consequences. Release into
coastal waters causes damage to local marine life and accumulation
of toxins in sea-food generally creates a serious health hazard
to the community. Uncontrolled disposal at municipal waste
facilities and into sewerage systems and sewage treatment
facilities threatens the health and safety of the operatives.
It also results in costly repairs and replacement of these
facilities as well as disruption to their operation.
The White
Paper: Pollution in Hong Kong A time to act, published
in June 1989, set out Government's intention to introduce
complete controls on chemical waste. The Waste Disposal (Chemical
Waste)(General) Regulation, enacted on 18 March 1992, under
the Waste Disposal Ordinance (Laws of Hong Kong Chapter 354)
along with certain sections of the Ordinance provides such
a statutory scheme of control.
The main
objective of the scheme of control is to ensure that chemical
waste is properly managed by all parties, from the source
of production through to the place of final disposal. Figure
1 illustrates the scheme of control.
Specifically,
the Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation (the
Regulation) provides for the definition of chemical waste,
the registration of persons producing chemical waste, and
the control of the possession, storage, collection, transport
and disposal of chemical waste. In addition, the Waste Disposal
Ordinance (the Ordinance) provides for the licensing of waste
collection, transport and disposal activities and the control
on import and export of chemical waste.
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) is the enforcement authority for
the controls.
If
you want to know more information about the Chemical Waste
Control Scheme, click here.
[Image of Figure 1 - "Cradle to grave" controls pn chemical waste]
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