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Press
Releases - 1998
Plastic
Scrap to be Examined
In response
to press enquiries, an Environmental Protection Department
(EPD) spokesman said the containers lost after a vessel sank
last Thursday (Jan 1) in the northeastern waters are being
treated as part of a shipwreck and Marine Department is co-odinating
the government's effort to retrieve all the affected cargo.
"Once
this has been completed, the cargo will be brought ashore
into a safe compound, where we will be able to inspect containers
which are believed to contain waste, to investigate whether
or not any waste in the containers is contaminated, or is
recyclable plastic.
"The containers
cannot be inspected before they are brought ashore to a safe
site, because it would be extremely hazardous for staff to
open containers and enter them, whilst the containers are
at sea or perched on the rocky shore.
"From
our initial investigations, we understand that the waste has
been given formal approval from a mainland-approved inspection
company in Hong Kong for import into the Mainland for recycling.
"If that
proves to be the case, no permit from EPD is needed.
"However,
should it be found on inspection that the waste is contaminated,
and was likely to have been contaminated before the shipwreck,
then prosecution action will be taken against the owner and
shipper of the waste for not applying in advance for a permit
to tranship the waste through Hong Kong." the spokesman said.
End/Wednesday,
January 7, 1998
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