|
Press Release
Construction waste disposal charges start Friday
The levy of disposal charges for the disposal of construction waste at government facilities will start from January 20 (Friday), a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) said today (January 18).
The charges for disposing of one tonne of construction waste at public fill reception facilities, sorting facilities and landfills are $27, $100 and $125 respectively.
Since the Construction Waste Disposal Charging Scheme came into operation on December 1, 2005, EPD had received, as at January 13, more than 10,000 account applications, the spokesman said.
Under the Charging Scheme, construction waste producers are required to open a billing account with the EPD in advance for disposing of construction waste. Anyone disposing of construction waste at public fill reception facilities, sorting facilities and landfills is required to hand in chits issued under a billing account upon delivery of waste to these facilities. Similarly, for the refuse transfer stations on outlying islands, valid chits are required for the disposal of construction waste.
Account holders are reminded to collect the chits from relevant offices of EPD or the Civil Engineering and Development Department as soon as possible.
As the Scheme is devised in such a way that waste haulers are not responsible for the payment of the levy, there will be little incentive for flytipping. Nonetheless, the spokesman said EPD would spare no efforts in tackling flytipping activities, and will step up enforcement actions against them.
In December, EPD conducted some 500 inspections and ambush operations at some 240 flytipping blackspots throughout the territory.
He warned against the illegal disposal of construction waste, pointing out that those who commit such offences under the Waste Disposal Ordinance are liable to a maximum penalty of $200,000 and six months' imprisonment.
The spokesman said that under the Charging Scheme, a tripartite working group with representatives from waste haulers, construction trade and government departments had met for more than 12 times since the end of 2004 to work out the implementation details. The working group has provided a very useful channel for close liaison among relevant stakeholders, and all three parties agreed that the working group should continue after the charging scheme comes into operation.
Dry runs involving the construction industry and the haulers have been carried out at the government disposal facilities since July last year in order to allow the trade to familiarise themselves with the operational details and to fine-tune the logistic arrangements.
To further remind the trade and the public, EPD has launched a series of promotional publicity including the broadcasting of Announcements of Public Interest on TV and radio since the last quarter of 2005.
Between October and December last year, some 32 seminars were organised in which more than 3,500 representatives from government departments and the concerned trades had attended, he added.
End/Wednesday, January 18, 2006
| 
