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Letter to the Editor of the South China Morning Post dated 7 January 2004
I refer to the letters published in 'Talkback' on 29 and 30 December 2003 concerning landfilling of waste.
The Government is committed to reducing the amount of waste produced and encouraging reuse and recycling. To achieve this goal, we need to tackle the waste problem in a comprehensive manner, including measures to enhance waste reduction and recovery, promotional and educational efforts as well as studies to identify longer-term solutions.
Since the launching of the Waste Reduction Framework Plan in 1998, the Government has implemented various initiatives to enhance waste recycling in Hong Kong. At present there are more than 27 000 waste separation bins throughout the territory, including 1 300 housing estates covering 70 per cent of the population. The Government has also launched a wet-and-dry garbage sorting pilot scheme in several housing estates in Eastern District to examine the economics and logistics of this alternative form of waste recovery. Together with promotional initiatives such as educational and publicity programmes at schools and housing estates, waste recycling campaigns for about 1 200 housing estates, collaboration with community organisations and green groups to try out various waste recovery systems, and funding community waste recovery projects through the Environment and Conservation Fund, we have seen the domestic waste recovery rate increased from eight per cent to 13 per cent in recent years.
In 2002, Hong Kong recovered 1.96 million tonnes of waste including domestic waste at an export value of HK$1.9 billion. This represents a recovery rate of 36 per cent, which is comparable to most developed cities. The Government is exploring further measures to increase the recovery rate to 40 per cent by 2007. These measures include enhanced education, partnership programmes, enhanced waste separation schemes and voluntary product responsibility schemes, etc. To facilitate the development of the recycling industry, the Government has also offered 27 short-term tenancy sites for recyclers to bid for. Planning work for a 20-hectare Recovery Park to provide land for the recycling industry on a longer term basis is underway.
In addition, the Government has introduced into the Legislative Council a Waste Disposal (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2003, which aims to introduce charging for the disposal of construction and demolition waste at landfills, sorting facilities and public fill reception facilities. This will provide economic incentive for producers of construction and demolition waste to reduce and recycle such waste, and is in line with the polluter pays principle.
However, even if we can meet the target recovery rate of 40 per cent by 2007, there will still be about 4 million tonnes of unrecyclable municipal solid waste each year that needs to be handled. While we are examining the appropriate technologies for the development of large-scale integrated waste management facilities to reduce the bulk volume of unrecyclable waste requiring disposal, the existing landfills are still required for residual waste emerging from the facilities and waste that cannot be treated. Therefore, landfills will continue to be a necessary element of our waste management strategy.
Warren Wong
Acting Principal Environmental Protection Officer
for Director of Environmental Protection
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