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Mission:
To promote community environmental
awareness through campaigns, publicity, education and action
programmes, with a view to harnessing the community’s
support for, and contribution to achieving desired environmental
goals, thereby securing a long term solution to environmental
problems through development of an improved environmental
ethic within the community. |
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Adopted "Fresh Air, Cool City" as
the theme of World Environment Day 2005, to encourage people
to switch off idling vehicle engines and set air-conditioning
temperatures at 25.5 degrees Celsius.
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Organised the first Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment Recycling Day and "Zero Waste" walk for
the Environmental Protection Festival 2005.
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Implemented partnership programmes with private
organisations to promote waste reduction and energy conservation
awareness.
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Joined the Pan Pearl River Delta Regional Environmental
Protection Industry Co-operation Exhibition with the Guangdong
Environmental Protection Bureau to promote regional co-operation
in environmental protection.
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Broadcast ten one-minute television programmes
and a 30-minute programme to promote waste reduction.

Students visit the Fanling Environmental Resource Centre. |
Pollution is
often the result of a collective impact, of a thousand small
actions adding up to one big problem. A thousand plastic bags,
a thousand discarded newspapers and a thousand homes and offices
with the air-conditioners running too high for cooling can
all put strains on Hong Kong’s environment. Getting
people to change their actions and adopt greener habits is
an on-going challenge. The Environmental Protection Department
(EPD) hopes that a sharper focus for our messages will help
encourage people to do more.
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The department is seeking to build on our wide-ranging community
programmes, which have successfully helped raise awareness
of environmental protection, and focus on those areas where
individuals can make the biggest difference. Reducing waste
and conserving energy are within everyone’s abilities
and circumstances. The EPD concentrated its community-based
activities on these two areas in 2005 in the expectation that
individual actions will, collectively, help reduce waste and
energy consumption.

Our landfills are rapidly depleting and wider community
participation in waste reduction is urgently needed. In 2005 the
EPD sought to increase the opportunities for recycling waste. The
"three-bin" collection scheme, in which waste paper, aluminium
cans and plastic bottles are collected in bins scattered around
housing estates, is giving way to a domestic waste source separation
programme. This will provide more convenient facilities for sorting
waste and enable more types of waste to be collected for recycling
(see Chapter 8 for details).
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Housing estate residents participate
in a road show promoting the Programme on Source Separation
of Domestic Waste. |
Television programmes explain
Hong Kong’s waste problem and show how to practise waste
reduction at home. |
At the same time, the department is striving to
make people more aware of how to reduce their waste. We are doing
this in three ways. First, general awareness is being promoted through
the local media, including television, radio stations and local
newspapers. Ten one-minute television programmes were produced in
2005 explaining Hong Kong’s waste problem and showing how
to practise waste reduction at home. A separate half-hour programme
on the Government’s waste management policy was also broadcast.
We also produced APIs (announcements of public interest) on a variety
of waste issues, as well as disseminated waste reduction messages
through the printed media.
Our second awareness-raising measure involves sending
people into the community to deliver talks, answer questions and
give practical demonstrations of waste separation. In 2005 our Community
Green Network Programme mainly focused on waste issues. Green Desk
was set up in housing estates and public places at times convenient
to residents and roving exhibitions, workshops and other activities
were organised to promote waste separation during the year. The
Mobile Environmental Resource Centre, which also demonstrated waste
recycling, had made about 110 community visits, attracting over
11 500 visitors.
Apart from raising awareness and know-how, our third
initiative is to build up the capacity of property managers to implement
green management and organise waste reduction activities in their
estates. Training was provided through the Environmental Protection
Ambassador Scheme for Property Management and the response has been
overwhelming. More than 500 property managers joined in 2005 reflecting
the enthusiasm with which this sector regards waste reduction.
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The Mobile Environmental Resource Centre
draws the interest of students on the Programme on Source
Separation of Domestic Waste. |

The crowning touch to our waste awareness activities
in 2005 was the Environmental Protection Festival. This annual event
has been organised by the Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC)
for 15 years. This year, participants were exhorted to "Reduce
and Avoid Waste". Officials from Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Shenzhen,
Zhongshan and Macao also participated in the event to symbolise
the joint efforts of the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao in reducing
waste.
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Dr Sarah LIAO,
Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works (centre),
and guests from various Mainland Environmental Protection
Bureaux and the Environment Council of Macao launch the "Zero
Waste" walk at the Environmental Protection Festival
2005.
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The festival was kicked off on December 4 with
a "Zero Waste" walk from Siu Sai Wan Mini-Soccer Pitch
to Big Wave Bay. More than 2 000 participants were encouraged to
bring their own water, use handkerchiefs instead of tissues and
leave only footprints behind. The launch also featured a four-metre
Christmas tree made of recycled CDs, a demonstration on electronic
waste recycling and green performances. It also marked the beginning
of a series of waste reduction activities organised by green groups,
community groups and District Councils, which will run until March
2006.
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Around 2 000 participants join
the "Zero Waste"
walk from Siu Sai Wan to Big Wave Bay. |
The Champions of the Environmental Story
Telling Competition perform in the opening ceremony of the
Environmental Protection Festival 2005. |
Another highlight of the festival was the territory-wide
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Recycling Day held
on December 11. Residents could bring their WEEE to about 200 collection
points in the community, thus ensuring wide coverage of the waste
reduction message. The aim was to encourage people to think beyond
the three-bin waste of paper, metals and plastics, and bring in
old computers, electrical and electronic appliances such as AV appliances
and televisions, and accessories such as CDs, batteries and cassette
tapes. About 101 tonnes of WEEE were collected on the day. Two community
groups, Caritas Hong Kong and St James’ Settlement, repaired
or dismantled the equipment. The repaired equipment was distributed
to the needy and the rest recovered for re-use or recycling.

Although waste reduction has a high profile in our
community work, energy conservation is an emerging concern. In 2005
the EPD took several steps to improve energy conservation, as described
in Chapter 10. Of interest in terms of community awareness is an
initiative to promote more efficient use of air-conditioners.
Air-conditioners consume one-third of Hong Kong’s
total power needs and a one-degree increase in temperature can save
about three per cent of the electricity used for air-conditioning.
The Government has decided to lead the way and set air-conditioning
temperatures at 25.5 degrees Celsius during summer months in government
premises. From April to September 2005, government offices consumed
two per cent less electricity over the same period in 2004. We are
keen to see the public follow suit. The 25.5-degree initiative was
promoted through a television API launched on June 5, the date designated
as World Environment Day by the United Nations. A second API on
energy conservation in general will also be launched in early 2006
to keep the issue in the public eye.
Our messages for both energy and waste are focused
on reduction. Like any wealthy society, Hong Kong has become increasingly
wasteful, throwing away useful materials and setting air-conditioners
to uncomfortably chilly temperatures, often all year round. Clearly
this is no longer sustainable. Each individual in the community
should recognise that they have a responsibility to help achieve
solutions.
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Dr Sarah LIAO, Secretary
for the Environment, Transport & Works (centre left),
Mr K K KWOK, Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport
and Works (Environment) (centre right), Mr HO Kwong-wai, Acting
Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services (right) and
Mr Joseph LEE, Chairman of the Environmental Campaign Committee
(left) launch World Environment Day 2005. |

Schools are a major focus of the EPD’s
community work. For example, we engage schools in our waste
reduction efforts. About 860 primary and secondary schools
are equipped with recycling bins and 870 sets of demonstration
bins have been placed in pre-schools. In 2005, 106 workshops
featuring waste reduction were organised for schools to
increase awareness among young people.
Outstanding
SEPAs together with youth leaders from Hong Kong, the
Mainland and Macao attend the Environmental Leadership
Summer Camp 2005 with sponsorship from the MTR Corporation. |
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Students and schools are also encouraged
to initiate green activities on campus through several long-running
programmes. In 2005, 15 447 students joined the Student
Environmental Protection Ambassador (SEPA) Scheme, while
778 schools joined the Schools Environmental Award Scheme.
Programmes organised for outstanding SEPAs provide further
training for young people to take responsibility for protecting
the environment. In 2005, an Environmental Leadership Summer
Camp was organised, bringing together outstanding and merit
SEPAs as well as ambassadors from the Girl Guides, Scouts,
Junior Police Call and Pearl River Delta region. Another
ten outstanding SEPAs went on an environmental study visit
to Singapore.
Schools were also encouraged to practise
environmental management through the Hong Kong Green School
Award and Hong Kong Green Pre-school Award. In 2005, 135
pre-schools and 147 primary and secondary schools participated
in the Awards Schemes. |
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Students learn
about waste reduction and recycling through interactive exhibits
at the Fanling Environmental Resource Centre. |
The
Honourable CHOY So-yuk, Chairperson of Legislative Council's
Panel on Environmental Affairs (back row 4th from right), and
other guests officiate the 5th Hong Kong Green School Award
cum 2nd Hong Kong Green Pre-school Award presentation ceremony. |

The business sector is an essential partner
of the ECC in promoting environmental protection. The ECC
established the Hong Kong Eco-Business Awards in 1999 to promote
environmental management in the business sector. Since its
introduction, more than 900 organisations have participated
in the Award Scheme. In 2005, 144 organisations competed for
the Green SME Award, Green Property Management Award and Green
Construction Contractor Award. The winners will be announced
in March 2006.
Apart from honouring green businesses, the
EPD and ECC also launch activities and programmes in partnership
with the business sector. For instance, the EPD and ECC jointly
organised the Clean Air Day 2005 in November with the Hong
Kong General Chamber of Commerce and Hong Kong Business Coalition
on the Environment. The event promoted clean air messages
such as asking drivers to switch off idling engines.
Mr
K K KWOK, Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport
and Works (Environment) (centre left), and other officiating
guests launch the 2005 Hong Kong Eco-Business Awards.
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The Government is keen to support waste reduction
activities organised by green groups, community groups and
other organisations. The Government’s Environment and
Conservation Fund, for instance, provided grants for 34 Environmental
Education and Community Action Projects in 2005.
Another initiative, begun in 2005, seeks
to support waste reduction projects and build the capacity
of less experienced groups in promoting and organising environmental
activities. The goal is to widen community participation.
From 2005, funds were provided for three projects that pair
large green groups with less experienced groups to work on
a one-year project on waste reduction.
Estates
joining the Pilot Programme on Source Separation of Domestic
Waste on organise publicity and educational programmes to enhance
residents’ awareness of waste recovery. |
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Continue to implement territory-wide publicity programmes
to promote community participation in waste reduction
and energy conservation.
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Continue to organise education programmes targeting
schools and the property management sector with a focus
on waste reduction.
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Promote environmental management in schools and the
business sector, especially small and medium enterprises.
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Spread green messages through the mass media and community
outreach programmes.
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Continue to encourage green groups and non-profit-making
organisations to apply for Government funding to organise
community-based environmental projects.
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