Burning need for Japanese waste solution
The Standard
Friday, November 12, 2010

Hong Kong may need to build at least five incinerators to deal with solid waste, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam- kuen believes.

Speaking in Tokyo yesterday, Tsang said he saw how Japan is able to integrate incinerators into the community.

"The one I have just visited is in the middle of a high-class residential area, next to a river and a major transit point where there is an annual throughput of two million people," he said.

"But when you go into the facility, you don't see any smoke. No odor, no noise, and it's part of the community."

Japanese experts told him the SAR would need at least one plant on Hong Kong Island, two in Kowloon and two in the New Territories.

Tsang was speaking after visiting the Tamagawa Incineration Plant, which can handle 300 tonnes of waste a day.

Efforts were made to design the buildings and the chimney at the plant to harmonize with the environment.

The bunker can store about 1,200 tonnes of refuse. Using modern technology, the plant is able to reduce the volume of waste it receives by 90 percent.

"We should study and learn lots from Japan's experience on solid waste, which will inspire Hong Kong on how garbage can be dealt with in a more effective, cleaner and more sustainable way," Tsang said.

Hong Kong generates about 18,000 tonnes of waste a day, half of which will be recycled and another half disposed of in landfills.

"We must deal with the problem of overflowing landfills with full consideration."

Tsang has said incineration might be preferable to landfill, after vowing not to press ahead with a plan to expand a landfill at the expense of a country park in the New Territories.

He made the pledge last month after lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a controversial motion repealing his executive order to expand the Tseung Kwan O landfill into the Clear Water Bay Country Park by five hectares.

Lawmakers, greens find five ways to curb waste
10 November 2010
South China Morning Post

Green groups and several lawmakers have come up with an action plan to reduce by two-thirds the amount of solid waste produced in the city by 2022.

The action plan aims to cut the 9,000 tonnes of solid waste generated each day to 3,000 tonnes by then.

It was devised by 19 groups and individuals - including Green Sense, Green Power, Greeners Action, WWF and lawmakers Tanya Chan and Andrew Cheng Kar-foo.

They suggest five ways to meet the target: fee-based waste disposal; increased recycling of leftover food; raising awareness of and responsibility for waste; boosting research; and building recycling and treatment facilities.

Generating less waste and promoting reuse should be the top priorities, followed by recycling and, as a last resort, methods such as incineration and landfills, Michelle Au Wing-tsz of Friends of the Earth said.

The government thinks otherwise. Environment secretary Edward Yau Tang-wah says two incinerators will be built, at Shek Kwu Chau, off Lantau, and in Tuen Mun.

Those behind the action plan said they would try to stop the incinerators being built. "Not only do we reject this plan of introducing incinerators, we will mobilise the public in a campaign against it," Au said.

Green groups involved in the action plan said the issue of waste management had been ignored for years.

Albert Lai Kwong-tak, chairman of middle-class lobby group the Professional Commons, said the city should learn from London's experience. "The former mayor of London told me they had made a mistake in building two incinerators hastily, and the city had lost the impetus to reduce waste," Lai said.

Lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan, who was involved in the action plan, said getting people to buy only what they needed was critical to changing the habits of those in the world's most wasteful city. She said business would likely be in favour of the incinerators. "Asking everybody to reduce waste is tantamount to asking them to buy less," she said.

A Baptist University survey released last week concluded the city should build five more incinerators, not two. The report said while many Hongkongers still considered incineration unclean, technological improvements had made it a clean and effective way to dispose of waste.

And incinerators can also generate electricity. The report cited Macau, where an incinerator generates enough power for 33,000 families.

In Germany, 75 incinerators handle 18 million tonnes of rubbish a year and provide 60,000 jobs. In Japan, three-quarters of solid waste is burned and only 1.7 per cent goes to landfills, the report said.

Last year, the city generated 6.45 million tonnes of municipal solid waste - more than double the amount two decades ago and equal to 921 kilograms for each of its seven million people. The figure excludes construction and hazardous waste.

Heated pools and Deep Bay views, but it's still just a sludge incinerator
28 October 2010
South China Morning Post

Its wave-like design aims to blend in with the coast in front and the hills behind, incorporates three heated swimming pools, a viewing platform with a vista of Deep Bay, and an environmental education centre, and will produce enough energy to meet its needs and also power 3,000 homes.

Yet all these attractive features cannot disguise the fact a HK$4.9 billion facility in Tuen Mun is merely an incinerator for processing sludge from sewage treatment plants.

Needless to say, it has not won over local politicians, who staunchly oppose any idea of building a solid-waste incinerator beside it.

Tuen Mun district councillors consulted about the sludge plant's design said it would be the last unpopular facility they would accept.

Councillor Lothar Lee Hung-sham said the leisure and education facilities were a gimmick to woo Tuen Mun residents into accepting further waste incineration facilities.

"Why do we need such heated pools or an education centre? We don't need to be educated about incineration if such a facility does not exist here in the first place," he said.

The government has not ruled out seeking approval for a proposed solid waste incinerator next to the sludge incinerator in Tuen Mun, or on outlying island Shek Kwu Chau.

Yet Lee said the council strongly opposed any more polluting facilities in Tuen Mun as the district already had two power stations, a cement-making plant, steel-mill, landfill and an aviation fuel storage. Chan Shue-ying, another councillor, said the sludge plant was not opposed as they hoped it would be the final facility.

Such opposition will be a blow to officials who had hoped the extra facilities would win public acceptance of thermal waste treatment.

The government unveiled details yesterday as it announced it had awarded a contract to design, build and operate the plant to VW-VES Hong Kong, a subsidiary of French environmental giant Veolia.

The burning chamber will be hidden behind glass exterior walls with the 50-metre stacks barely visible from outside.

To allay fears over emissions, the Environmental Protection Department has also agreed to set up a new air-quality monitoring station in Tuen Mun to closely track air pollution in the area, but its exact location has not been decided.

The incinerator, at the northern end of the Tsang Tsui ash lagoon, is environment officials' long-awaited solution for treating the foul-smelling sludge now dumped in landfill sites.

Able to handle 2,000 tonnes of sludge a day, the facility will take all of the 800 tonnes now produced each day, which is expected to grow to 1,500 tonnes in 2014.

Officials have blamed the undesirable practice of burying the sludge in landfills for creating a bad smell affecting Tseung Kwan O residents. With incineration, the landfills will take only the burnt residue.

Edward Yau Tang-wah, the environment secretary, hailed the plan, saying it would incorporate the latest incineration technology and meet the most stringent emission standards in the world. "The project shows modern technology can offer a much better solution and also provide facilities that will be popular with the local community," he said after a ceremony to sign the contracts.

Residents raise stink over Tuen Mun schemes
The Standard
Monday, November 29, 2010

More than 100 Tuen Mun residents rallied outside the Central Government Offices yesterday against plans to expand a landfill and build a sludge treatment facility in the district.

Along with Albert Ho Chun-yan, lawmaker for New Territories West which includes Tuen Mun, protesters marched from the Legislative Council to government headquarters, where they handed over a petition letter.

Holding up a banner saying "No Unpopular Facilities," the group claims the new plans will worsen environmental pollution in Tuen Mun - already home to many "unpopular" facilities, such as two fuel tanks, a power station and a landfill.

The government proposes to expand the current landfill from 110 hectares to 270 hectares.

One of the petitioners, who did not give his name, said he can hardly bear to open the windows in his house.

"My health has been seriously affected by the odor spreading from the landfill near my home," he said.

Ho, also the Democratic Party chairman, urged an immediate stop to the proposal to expand the landfill, saying Tuen Mun cannot accommodate any additional waste facilities.

About 500,000 people live in Tuen Mun, representing 14 percent of the Hong Kong population. The district handles one-third of the city's daily solid waste, Ho said. "Each district should take responsibility in dealing with the increasing waste and limited capacity for landfills," he said.

The group also protested against the HK$4.96 billion project for the territory's first sludge treatment plant in Tuen Mun. The contract was signed late last month with VW-VES (HK), a subsidiary of the French firm Veolia Environnement.

The plant has been named "Tuen Yuen" - which in Cantonese means "Tuen Mun is Hong Kong's cradle of environmental protection."

Authorities say the facility will treat up to 2,000 tonnes of sludge a day when it starts operations in 2013, and will be able to reduce the volume of sludge by up to 90 percent.

Dump fight looms again
The Standard
Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The government intends to apply for a judicial review against Legco's move to repeal an executive order to shrink a country park for a landfill extension - and in the process risk a constitutional crisis, sources say.

Lawmakers last month overwhelmingly passed a motion repealing an order by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam- kuen to shrink the Clear Water Bay Country Park by five hectares to make way for an expanded landfill in Tseung Kwan O.

The administration is understood to have sought the opinion of a Queen's Counsel in Britain, who said the Legislative Council does not have the power to overrule the chief executive, sources told Sing Tao Daily, sister publication of The Standard.

Tsang pledged not to press on with the plan after the vote. But when asked at that time if his administration would seek a judicial review, Tsang said Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung was handling the case and studying Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing's ruling before deciding what steps to take.

Residents and lawmakers strongly opposed expanding the dumping site, which they said creates a bad smell and is already a nuisance facility.

The advice from the British QC has emboldened officials, who have been under pressure to expand rubbish treatment and disposal facilities amid political wrangling ahead of district council elections and legislative elections in the next two years.

After considering all legal points, a source said, the government is inclined to seek a judicial review of the legislature's stand against the chief executive.

There could be a challenge to the motion that repealed the order or to the decision by Jasper Tsang to allow the debate that led to the motion being passed.

The administration has already argued that Legco does not have the right to repeal an order from the chief executive.

But legislators have responded by pointing to their powers to make and unmake laws, including those that regulate country parks.

Legislator Alan Leong Kah-kit said yesterday that the administration's intention to seek a judicial review is "beyond comprehension" and the challenge can "result in shock." A judicial review is "well past appropriate timing," he added, and a "bold step to take."

Legco president Tsang could not be reached for comment last night.

The administration last month postponed any action on the plan to expand the landfill for 14 months - from November 1 to January 1, 2012 - in what was seen as a concession to legislators.

It would give them time to study the plan's implications, the administration said, though Environment Secretary Edward Yau Tang-wah noted that a landfill would still be needed.

Experts have said the Tseung Kwan O landfill could be full by 2013.

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Hong Kong must act quickly to tackle imminent waste problem
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Government Press Release

The Government announced today (January 4) a comprehensive waste management strategy and action plan to tackle the imminent waste problem facing Hong Kong.

The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, said, "The Government has devised a concrete action plan which includes a number of initiatives to reduce waste at source, coupled with modern waste treatment facilities and extension of landfills, to tackle the imminent waste problem using a multi-pronged approach."

At present, about 13,300 tonnes of waste are disposed of at landfills every day, of which about 9,000 tonnes comprise non-recyclable municipal solid waste (MSW), 900 tonnes are sludge generated from the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme or other sewerage treatment processes, and about 3,200 tonnes are attributable to construction waste.

As the three existing landfills are expected to approach full capacity one-by-one from 2014 onwards, Hong Kong has an urgent need to enhance its waste management systems.

"The foremost task is reducing waste at source and our success rests on how we coordinate hardware facilities as well as achieving behavioural change among the public. Recycling facilities already cover 80% of the Hong Kong community. However, the Government will step up its efforts on this front. We will look into ways to encourage waste reduction and recovery through economic means. Our target is to increase the waste recovery rate from the current 49% to 55% in 2015," Mr Yau said.

The major tasks for reducing waste at source include strengthening district recycling facilities and networks on various fronts, implementing the next stage of the Producer Responsibility Scheme (PRS), including stage two of the plastic shopping bag levy scheme and the PRS for waste electrical and electronic equipment, as well as launching a public consultation on MSW charging.

Mr Yau also pointed out that our current practice of relying on landfills alone in treating waste is not sustainable. Hong Kong must follow other advanced economies by planning to adopt modern technology such as a waste incineration facility and a food waste processing facility to raise our standards of waste treatment.

He stressed that these facilities would comply with the highest environmental standards. Besides relieving the pressure on landfills by significantly reducing the volume of waste, they can also transform waste into energy. They are an essential component of a modern waste management strategy.

As regards the proposed extension of the Tseung Kwan O landfill (also known as the South East New Territories landfill), Mr Yau noted that the Government was aware of the strong views opposing the plan and also of its proximity to residential area.

"After two months of thorough consideration, the Government has decided to amend the original proposal of expanding Tseung Kwan O landfill by 20.6 hectares. Firstly, the Administration will not seek to utilise the five hectares of land inside Clear Water Bay Country Park for landfill extension. Secondly, the Administration will reduce the area of landfill extension in Tseung Kwan O Area 137 to around 13 hectares. Thirdly, in response to the concern of the Sai Kung District Council, we have decided under the landfill extension project that only odourless waste (such as construction waste) will be sent to the Tseung Kwan O landfill with a view to further relieving the odour problem of Tseung Kwan O landfill," he said.

He explained that as certain procedures have to be completed prior to the development of the integrated waste treatment facility, it might not be commissioned until 2018. In the short-term, the Government must make further preparations for the ongoing utilisation of the landfills. The Government must earmark and level the land needed for the disposal of solid waste generated daily in Hong Kong before the landfills are filled up.

In the medium and long-term, even with continuous efforts in waste reduction and including modern incineration facilities, Hong Kong will still need landfills to cater for unavoidable waste such as municipal solid waste, which cannot be treated due to the limited scale of incineration facilities, as well as non-combustible waste and incineration ashes.

Mr Yau said that by diverting waste to suitable facilities and after the commissioning of other waste management facilities (such as the sludge treatment facility and organic waste treatment facility), it was estimated that the lifespan of the Tseung Kwan O landfill could be extended to around 2020 under the amended proposal, thus allowing for a period of overlap with the planning of a new permanent construction waste transfer facility. The new proposals have already minimised the area of extension of the landfill in order to address the concern of local residents.

"The way forward I have just outlined provides a clear blueprint for the waste management in Hong Kong in 2030 and it can be taken forward only with the concerted efforts of the community as a whole, relevant districts, political parties, councillors and the general public. We hope that the Legislative Council will offer realistic and attainable views on the Government's strategy and share responsibility with a pragmatic attitude and in the best interests of the whole community. We look forward to the understanding of the public towards the imminent waste management problem and their support for our work by participating in waste reduction and recovery and making good use of resources," Mr Yau concluded.

Landfill challenge scrapped
The Standard
Wednesday, January 05, 2011

The administration has backed down on a plan for part of a country park to become a landfill.

It has decided not to mount a legal challenge against a Legislative Council resolution to halt its waste-dumping plan.

A chief executive's order to use five hectares of Clear Water Bay Country Park to expand the Tseung Kwan O landfill was knocked back by a legislative resolution in October.

So a constitutional crisis loomed when the administration said it was ready to seek a judicial review on the repeal.

But Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang Ying-yen emerged from an Executive Council meeting yesterday to say there will not be a move into court. The decision was made to maintain a "good relationship" between the executive and legislative councils, Tang said.

But he argued that the administration backing down does not set a precedent and it reserves the right to seek a court review of its powers.

Indeed, said Tang, officials hold to their view that legislators cannot undo an order from the chief executive.

According to Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung, that is also the view of two QCs - Lord Pannick from the United Kingdom and former Hong Kong attorney-general Michael Thomas.

Tang said the Country Parks Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance stipulate that the chief executive and the Legislative Council cannot repeal such an order, which is subsidiary legislation after being passed by the Executive Council.

"Even if there were any legal flaw, it is not for Legco to assume the role of the court to correct it by repealing the order," Tang said in a letter sent to Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok- sing.

Eric Cheung Tat-ming, an assistant professor in the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Law, said a nonlegal resolution is strange.

In fact, he said, by maintaining that the legislature has done something wrong but not seeking a legal review it "sounds like they are doing something that they think is illegal."

Legislators welcomed the decision. The Civic Party's Tanya Chan Suk- chong, who tabled the motion to reject the landfill plan, believes the decision is solely a political consideration. But the administration has not clarified the role of the legislature, she added.

Tam Yiu-chung, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said staying out of court means a good relationship between legislators and the administration can be maintained.

Legislative president Tsang, meanwhile, said a panel will study the role of councillors in amending legislation.

Public should prepare for waste disposal charge, minister warns
6 January 2011
South China Morning Post

Hongkongers should expect to be charged for waste disposal as a way of encouraging recycling, the environment minister warned yesterday.

Edward Yau Tang-wah said the 49 per cent recycling rate needed to be significantly lifted because landfill sites were filling up quickly.

But Yau said the city needed to go beyond that level. "If we want to go further, we need to start discussing a waste charge based on volume.

"This might be controversial but overseas experiences show it will be difficult to reduce waste without proper economic means."

On Tuesday Yau outlined a revised strategy to deal with the mounting waste, reducing it by recycling and other treatments such as incineration. He said the three existing landfills would all be full at different stages by 2018.

But Yau admitted a waste disposal charge alone would not be sufficient to address the waste problems facing the city.

"There is currently a waste charge in Taipei but it doesn't mean they won't have incinerators or landfills."

Despite calls by residents for the Tseung Kwan O landfill to close, Yau said landfills would always be needed in any city, no matter how much waste was reduced and treated.

Even if a proposed incinerator with a waste handling capacity of 3,000 tonnes daily was built, there would still be about 4,500 tonnes of waste requiring further disposal.

This figure excludes another 2,000 tonnes of sludge from sewage treatment, which will be incinerated at another new facility which is currently under construction.

"In this case, we have to build either one more incinerator or we put them in the landfill," Yau said. "But exactly how we should handle this will be up to the public to choose."

Yau said that in future most wet waste such as sludge and kitchen waste would be diverted to treatment facilities instead of being dumped in landfills.

Sites deemed suitable for a waste incinerator, designed to burn 3,000 tonnes of waste a day, will be made public in March. Officials have not ruled out the possibility that incinerators might be built on both of the two short-listed sites - Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun and Shek Kwu Chau.

Recycle call to stop SAR going to waste
The Standard
Monday, January 10, 2011

A newly formed political party has accepted weight-based waste charges suggested by Environment Secretary Edward Yau Tang-wah but says it is more important to encourage reduction and recycling.

"We need to promote an even stronger recycling culture in Hong Kong and reduce our rubbish," Neo Democrats community officer Ben Chung Kam-lun said during a demonstration at the Central Government Offices.

Despite government efforts to encourage recycling, most rubbish bins in residential estates are misused as many people do not separate their trash.

A case in point is Lei Muk Shue Estate in Kwai Chung, where recycling bins on every level were either unused, or contained the wrong material.

The Legislative Council aims to have recycling bins on every level in every public housing estate by 2012.

Recycling bins in private estates are the responsibility of building owners and many simply do not bother. And many residents prefer to sell recyclables to junk dealers.

The shelving of government plans to use parts of Clear Water Bay Country Park to expand the Tseung Kwan O landfill will merely pave the way for more landfills, Chung believes.

"Increasing landfills is not a solution. We need to start from our homes and reduce waste," he said.

The party urged the government to follow the example of Taipei, where residents are required to buy specially printed biodegradable bags for waste disposal. This has reduced waste by a third while doubling recycling.

At the end of their protest, the party presented a government representative with its proposals for reducing waste, as well as a sample of the bags used in Taipei.

For many who attended the protest, a solution to the waste problem is of critical concern.

Francis Yam Kai-bong, 32, who has a 16-month-old son, said: "I want there to still be a Hong Kong when my son grows up, not a bunch of rubbish hills."

Hello everyone....
I am a huge environmentalist but i have a problem there is paper recycling near my house but nothing else no glass plastic cans nothing but paper recycling young and it makes me sad cause i feel so wasteful throwing away stuff i know can be recycled so can someone explain to me how those businesses work and if thereis anything i can do about it
thanks!

We all need to pitch in to solve waste problem
8 January 2011
South China Morning Post

Hong Kong's innovative thinking, wealth and technological prowess mean that many challenges that come our way can be overcome - some easily, some with hard work and determination. That has been shown time and again with impressive infrastructure projects that are the envy of other governments. But while we are able to engineer eye-catching buildings, subway systems and bridges, we are not so good at re-engineering a basic element of city living - the rubbish we produce, or specifically, the amount of it. With our landfills nearing capacity, we have no option other than to be less wasteful.

There is much work to do. In terms of municipal solid refuse, we are the most wasteful place in the world, with each of us producing 921kg in 2009. That is more than twice the amounts generated in Taiwan and South Korea, places with a similar development level and cultural background. It is not an achievement we can be proud of nor be willing to hold on to for long.

None of us can shirk our responsibility to generate less waste. The government has a significant role to play by promptly putting in place measures that have been on the table or planned for years, but left unimplemented for fear of upsetting various groups. Companies behind the products that we buy have to agree to strict packaging and recycling policies, while consumers have to do their bit by following the rules, thinking twice about what they buy and applying some of that can-do spirit that we are famous for.

We are at this juncture because so few of us have developed an environmental consciousness. Recycling of household rubbish, at so advanced a stage in other developed societies, remains rudimentary here. Hong Kong has limited space, which makes sustainability essential. The warnings have been ignored, and before the decade is out there will not be any room left in the three landfills.

The government's reluctance to respond decisively has not helped. It laid out a waste management framework in 1998, putting in place reduction targets that were repeatedly missed. Another scheme replaced it in 2005; it set out measures and a timetable to 2014 for reducing waste generation and increasing recycling. A landfill charge for construction waste has been highly effective, cutting the amounts being put into landfills by half, but a solid-waste levy and the building of incinerators remain on the drawing board.

No one wants to live next to a landfill or incinerator. Nonetheless, these have to be part of any effective management scheme. Incinerator technology has improved greatly since Hong Kong shut its last one down in 1997. The two that the government has planned for opening in 2016 and 2018 - if work on them starts soon - would produce few emissions and could double as power generators.

We need to move ahead on these plans now that the government's plan to extend the Tseung Kwan O landfill into the neighbouring country park has been abandoned amid public outrage. The authorities' lack of commitment led to the possibility of a legal battle over the powers of the executive and legislature after lawmakers voted the proposal down. Such reticence has to stop so that the needed measures can be enacted.

There is no need for more consultation. The overwhelming acceptance of the plastic bag levy proves that. It should be extended to all retail outlets. Voluntary schemes do not work when it comes to reducing waste. While we each have to be more responsible, laws, charges and rules are needed for the right mindset. We all need to pitch in. And we need leadership to show us the path forward.

Super-incinerator should not be built on picturesque island
13 January 2011
SCMP

While I broadly agree with the thrust of your leader ("We all need to pitch in to solve waste problem", January 8), I must take issue with the paragraph on incinerators.

I refer particularly to the proposal to build a "super-incinerator" on the picturesque island of Shek Kwu Chau, just off the most pristine part of the south Lantau coast and highly visible from one of Hong Kong's most beautiful beaches. It is hard to imagine a less environmentally friendly and more expensive option.

First, the capital cost to the taxpayer of reclaiming the land and building such a facility at this outlying island would be far higher than for other possible locations, including the proposal to construct one on already reclaimed and blighted land next to Castle Peak Power Station.

Second, the transportation of millions of tonnes of unsorted garbage 24/7, by a large fleet of barges plying the length of Victoria Harbour and on down the West Lamma and Adamasta channels would have the largest possible carbon footprint compared with any other option, not to mention representing an embarrassing public demonstration of Hong Kong's inability to deal with its own dirty laundry.

Third, how will it be possible to connect this remote station to the electricity grid to obtain the supposed energy by-product at a reasonable cost in monetary and environmental terms? The question of fly-ash disposal must also be addressed.

Fourth, the visual intrusion from this gargantuan plant close to prime beaches, a marine park designate and Cheung Chau harbour is incompatible with south Lantau's designation as an area for "recreation and conservation", according to Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen's Lantau development concept plan of 2006. It would be a particularly depressing prospect for Lantau residents, visitors and small businesses alike.

This incinerator would not be the sort of benign facility that some of our district and legislative councillors were shown on a recent junket to Tokyo, which is located on a brownfield industrial site. The Hong Kong incinerator(s) will be at least twice as large. In Tokyo, waste arrives directly in the collection trucks, which are driven under cover for final sorting. This is totally different from going from truck to barge, barge to landing stage then by some means into the incinerator.

The government is hinting that two incinerators will be needed - in other words it is planning for growth in waste production - a very inappropriate message to be sending out at this juncture.

While incineration may relieve, in the short term, some of the pressure on landfills, as proposed it will do nothing to alter the mindset of Hong Kong (its government in particular) towards taking real responsibility for reducing and managing waste in line with standards that a "world city" should long ago have attained. It is simply throwing taxpayers' money at the problem, while incidentally generating some juicy contracts for its beloved construction companies.

John Schofield, Living Islands Movement

HK$25b price tag for new facilities to tackle waste
19 January 2011
SCMP

Environmental officials put a price tag yesterday on their proposed solutions to Hong Kong's mounting waste problem: HK$25 billion to build new facilities and an additional HK$950 million a year in operating costs.

The amount, set out in a submission to lawmakers, includes the combined capital costs of a mega-incinerator capable of burning 3,000 tonnes of waste each day; two organic waste treatment facilities; and extending landfills in Tseung Kwan O, Tuen Mun and North District.

The Environmental Protection Department provided no breakdown of the costs yesterday. It is not yet known how the expenditures will be funded.

Hong Kong is racing against time to prevent a waste crisis after the government ditched one of three proposals for extending landfills amid strong public opposition.

Officials have said they plan to step up recycling and waste reduction through financial incentives or other policy moves - but an urgent need remains for new waste disposal options besides landfills.

Despite the huge spending, which would be more than enough to build and operate the whole West Kowloon Cultural District, officials have dropped strong hints that the city's waste incineration capability might have to be doubled in the long term.

Recycling efforts will fall short by 8,000 tonnes of municipal waste by 2015, officials estimate - even under the unrealistic assumption that waste generation were to show no growth in the next five years.

In the past decade, waste produced by Hong Kong people and their visitors grew by 21 per cent, from 5.3 million tonnes in 2001 to 6.4 million tonnes in 2009.

"Having regard to the volume of waste that we generate today, we consider there may be a need for one further integrated-waste management facility of the capacity of 3,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day and some more organic waste treatment facilities," the Environment Protection Department said.

"We would launch a site search for this purpose while looking into the potential of private sector projects that can provide the waste treatment services."

The public will soon be consulted about the proposed site for the first waste incinerator in 13 years. The last old-waste burning chamber was closed in 1997.

The two shortlisted sites are Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun, and Shek Kwu Chau south of Lantau. The latter site would take longer to complete as it would involve sea reclamation.

Apart from the two places, Green Island Cement, a subsidiary of Cheung Kong group controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, has been promoting its waste-to-cement technology, which it claims could be much cheaper and faster to build than conventional incineration.

Green Island says the facility would require no more than four years to plan, build and commission, and the capital cost would be only around HK$2 billion, with annual running costs estimated at HK$200 million a year.

The company is unhappy that its cement production plan at Tap Shek Kok in Tuen Mun is excluded from the government's site selection process for waste incineration.

Environment officials say they would consider the project in the longer term if the company can demonstrate the technical viability of the technology, satisfy environmental impact assessment requirements, and consult district councils.

Michelle Au Wing-tze, a senior environmental affairs officer said it was vital for the government to make sure the tendering process was fair and that it should be "open to all to bid".

Diners support plan to cut food waste by 15pc
28 January 2011
SCMP

More than 100 corporations and government departments are joining a campaign to reduce food waste by cutting two courses from their Lunar New Year banquets.

Campaign organiser Friends of the Earth said having two fewer courses at banquets would cut food waste by 15 per cent. It is urged people to bring food boxes to banquets and take home any leftovers.

So far, 81 government departments, 55 corporations and two business chambers have adopted the waste prevention methods at their celebrations.

Executive Council convenor Leung Chun-ying and Council for Sustainable Development chairman Bernard Chan also initiated their own campaign to cut two courses from banquets earlier this week. About 40 restaurants, corporations and green groups have signed up to this venture.

Friends of the Earth said cutting courses in banquets could also help the public combat inflation. The six-course banquet for 12 it held yesterday cost HK$3,000 - HK$600 less than the original nine courses proposed by the restaurant.

The green group said that diners mostly cut courses with shark's fin and fat choy, a type of algae that loosens the soil and exacerbates desertification when it is harvested.

Secretary for Environment Edward Yau Tang-wah said it was important corporations and departments planned their banquets well. "Most people go to these occasions to socialise, rather than for the food. Food doesn't play a great role in banquets, and a lot ends up wasted."

In 2009, 3,280 tonnes of food went in landfills each day, with 964 tonnes of it from the commercial sector.

Edwin Lau Chi-fung, assistant director of Friends of the Earth, said he hoped malls and estates would soon introduce food waste recycling facilities. He would also like to see a tax implemented on food waste.

Sustainable waste management strategy long overdue in HK
9 February 2011
SCMP

I refer to the article by Bernard Chan ("Can we dispose of our growing waste problem?" January 28).

As an academic who is interested in waste management and recycling, I would say we cannot. But Hong Kong should manage its waste problem in a more sustainable way. To achieve the recently promulgated 55 per cent municipal solid waste recycling rate, incentives must be in place to encourage waste producers to reduce and recycle more waste.

Producer responsibility schemes and municipal solid waste charging have been effective in many places, by reducing waste generation. The success of the plastic bag levy is a good example. The government should expedite policy formulation and legislative processes to implement such incentives.

Mr Chan rightly said it would be difficult to impose volume or mass-related waste charges on individual households as implementation and enforcement would be complex with our high-rises and compact residential housing. But government statistics show that the most worrying trend in terms of waste increase is the increasing quantity of commercial waste (from malls, hotels, fast-food chains and airports).

It is easy to appreciate the problem if you think about the amount of waste generated after a fast food meal or when taking a flight into or out of Hong Kong. Disposal of such waste in Hong Kong is free. Incentives or penalties (in the form of a waste disposal charge) can discourage the indiscriminate use of one-off disposable items and encourage more recycling of waste. Implementing a charging scheme first for industrial and commercial waste would face hurdles. But it would be easier to get public and Legco support, if the administration was committed to putting in place a sustainable waste management policy.

While waste reduction and recovery should continue to be the main focus in the overall waste management strategy, there would still be substantial quantities of waste that cannot be recycled and need to be properly disposed of. We can learn from cities that are similar to Hong Kong, such as Taipei, Tokyo and Singapore. Their experiences prove that there is a need to develop thermal waste treatment facilities. With the advances made in combustion and air emission control technologies, modern incinerators offer environmentally acceptable technology that can effectively reduce the volume of waste requiring final disposal.

The not-in-my-backyard reaction to the siting of waste management facilities exists everywhere. Hong Kong is just too small to regionally demarcate waste management responsibilities too rigidly given the environmental constraints of siting these facilities. The government must work out with the affected local communities a package of appropriate community measures so that the opposition to the siting of these facilities can be alleviated.

C. S. Poon, professor and director, Research Centre for Environmental Technology and Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Waste plan for Lantau waters
18 February 2011
The Standard

http://the-sun.on.cc/cnt/news/20110218/photo/0218-00407-045b1.jpg

The government prefers building an incinerator south of Lantau Island over another site in Tuen Mun, environmental minister Edward Yau Tang-wah said yesterday.

The Integrated Waste Management Facilities will involve the creation of an artificial island south of Shek Kwu Chau and west of Cheung Chau, sparking concerns from environmentalists it may affect the habitat of protected dolphins.

The facilities are expected to be completed in 2018 should the Legislative Council's finance committee approve the funding.

The government expects the incinerator will be able to treat about 3,000 tonnes of waste a day.

Secretary for the Environment Yau said the site was chosen over Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun partly because of the shorter transportation time and the lower impact on the neighborhood.

The city's three refuse transfer stations are now located at Island West, Island East and West Kowloon. He described the route for shipping the waste from the stations to Shek Kwu Chau as ``a much shorter one, at least one third or one quarter shorter than the journey taken to Tuen Mun.''

There is only a drug rehab center on Shek Kwu Chau, which houses about 200 people.

Yau said the new facilities may also may help boost economic activities in the area.

The project will require the reclamation of 15.9 hectares for the facilities, a berthing area and a breakwater.

On worries about the environmental impact, Yau said an assessment report released yesterday showed the project is considered environmentally acceptable if mitigation measures are carried out.

The report said 31 hectares of habitat will be lost due to the reclamation and the creation of an embayment area within a breakwater.

The government consultancy proposes to set aside a marine park of about 700 hectares in the waters between the Soko Islands and Shek Kwu Chau as compensation.

WWF senior conservation officer Alan Leung Sze-lun said: ``It is a very important habitat for the finless porpoise. The project has a direct impact on the species.''

Leung and Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society chairman Samuel Hung Ka-yiu urged the government to set up the marine park as soon as possible.

Greenpeace campaigner Gloria Chang Wan-ki said she is worried about potential air pollution brought by the operation of the incinerator.

Cheung Chau residents are concerned about the fly ash and smell problems, Island district councilor Lee Kwai-chun said.

Upgraded purification system boosts Sha Tin sewage plant
7 February 2011
SCMP

Hong Kong's biggest sewage-treatment plant is capable of recycling about 1,000 cubic metres of water a day, thanks to an upgraded purification system.

The 28-hectare Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works next to the racecourse handles waste water from Sha Tin and Ma On Shan districts, whose residents produce 250,000 cubic metres of sewage a day.

The sewage used to undergo basic treatment and be sent to Tolo Harbour, but since November an improved system has greatly enhanced cleanliness of the treated water, increasing its usage.

The new system purifies water with three additional delicate parts: disc filters, ultra-filtration membranes and reverse osmosis membranes. The cost of the entire water-reclamation facility is about HK$7.2 million.

Disc filters catch particulates exceeding 130 micrometres, and ultra-filtration 0.03 micrometre as well as most bacteria. Finally, the filtrate flows through reverse osmosis membranes where viruses, salts and other substances exceeding 1 nanometre in diameter are barred.

Reverse osmosis is a filtration method that removes many types of large molecules from solutions by applying pressure to the fluid when it is on one side of a membrane. That is considered an advanced technology, and this is the first time the Drainage Services Department has adopted it.

To have an idea of how small 1 micrometre is, a human hair's diameter is about 90 micrometres.

The reclaimed water produced each day - about 1,000 cubic metres - is enough to cater to about 70 per cent of the water treatment plant's needs for such things as toilet flushing and diluting chemicals.

There were plans to expand the use of the water even further, for instance to New Territories farms so farmers could save more drinking water, said Eddie Pak Kan-ming, a senior engineer at the Drainage Services Department.

However, the water was unsuitable for drinking because it lacked certain chemicals and may not be clean enough, he said. But water treated in this plant was not designed for drinking, but to help alleviate the global problem of freshwater shortage, Pak said.

About 70 to 80 per cent of Hong Kong's fresh water is imported from the Dongjiang, or East River, over a distance of more than 80 kilometres. The agreed maximum quantity of Dongjiang water for Hong Kong is 1.1 billion cubic metres a year.

But that will not be enough after 2030, according to a government forecast. So reclaiming water was one of the solutions the government devised in 2007, alongside reducing water consumption, protecting water resources and exploring new ones.

Choice of remote island for incinerator enrages critics
18 February 2011
SCMP

Environmental officials have picked a remote outlying island for a controversial mega-incinerator to dispose of Hong Kong's mounting waste.

But critics say building it there will cost more, take longer and cause more environmental damage than the other potential location.

In choosing Shek Kwu Chau, about six kilometres south of Lantau, officials passed over a more widely expected site at Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun.

Critics immediately said the government wanted to avoid a bruising fight with residents who live in and round Tuen Mun and politicians who would strenuously object to an incinerator capable of burning 3,000 tonnes of waste a day in an area that already has a landfill.

As environment minister Edward Yau Tang-wah announced the long-awaited selection yesterday, an environmental impact assessment report was released for public consultation.

The selection process has been a flashpoint issue since the sites were shortlisted in 2008. Concerns were heightened when a plan to expand the Tseung Kwan O landfill was rejected by lawmakers last year.

The environmental impact report released yesterday did little to resolve the controversies, however. It refrains from saying if Shek Kwu Chau or Tsang Tsui is the more acceptable choice on environmental grounds.

It concludes that both sites comply with all environmental standards, leaving it largely for government officials to decide which to pick.

Yau said the island was favoured because it would create a more balanced distribution of waste facilities throughout the city. And because it is closer to existing refuse transfer facilities in the urban area, waste transport trips would be shorter.

"Shek Kwu Chau is further away from major population centres," Yau said, "so the accumulated environmental effect will be less."

Tsang Tsui, on the far western tip of the New Territories, is located next to the city's largest landfill and close to a power generation plant and transmission grid. It also has enough land for immediate construction of an incinerator by 2016. That will be badly needed to handle the city's mounting waste crisis, officials say, because all landfills will be full by 2018.

On the island, however, up to 16 hectares of land will have to be reclaimed from the sea for the construction. Because of that, the incinerator can only be completed two years later - in 2018.

In addition, extra power cables will have to be laid in the seabed between the island and Cheung Sha to transmit the electricity generated from the incineration process.

Officials refused to say how much more it would cost to build the incinerator on the island compared with Tsang Tsui.

In order to mitigate the harm to marine habitats, whose denizens include the protected finless porpoise, the government proposes setting up a 700-hectare marine park between the Soko Islands and Shek Kwu Chau.

Ng Cho-nam, a former environment adviser to the government, said the choice was clearly a political decision that spared officials from repeating the disruption to its plan to expand the Tseung Kwan O landfill last year. "They just want to avoid being defeated if they opt for the Tsang Tsui site," Ng said.

"But in doing so, they might have to sacrifice the integrity of the environmental impact assessment process."

Ng said it was apparent that the Tsang Tsui site was the more environmentally acceptable choice, as it would cause much less ecological damage, but for unknown reasons the impact study was unable even to tell which site was superior in technical terms.

Man Chi-sum, chief executive officer of Green Power, said the government had cleverly reserved the Tuen Mun site for the next round of incineration expansion.

"Officials have picked an easier one in the first place and if they succeed there they can move on to build another one in Tuen Mun," Man said. "But if they now go for the difficult one, they might end up having just one incinerator built."

Clive Noffke, from Green Lantau Association, said he very disappointed by the decision and suspected that politics was behind it.

"Tsang Tsui has land, power grid, places for ash disposal but no ecology. No doubt, it is an obvious choice."

Noffke said previous planning blueprints had long shown the South Lantau region as a conservation area; siting an incinerator there ran counter to that.

Chau Shue-ying, a Tuen Mun district councillor, welcomed the selection. "The waste problem is a responsibility for each district and everyone in Hong Kong," she said. But she was still worried that officials would pick Tuen Mun for a second incinerator.

Audrey Eu Yu-mee, a Civic Party lawmaker, also described the choice as heavily political.

"The government dares not build in Tuen Mun to avoid criticism," she said. "But this facility [on Shek Kwu Chau] is deemed to be insufficient to handle the waste generated by the city. So the government will still need to build one in Tuen Mun in the long term."

Waste produced in Hong Kong grew by 21 per cent, from 5.3 million tonnes in 2001 to 6.4 million tonnes in 2009.

On old European maps Shek Kwu Chau was known as Coffin Island. It was uninhabited until 1963, when it became a heroin treatment centre. It was used in the early 1990s as a temporary detention centre for Vietnamese boatpeople. It is still a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts.

LCQ7: Glass bottle recycling
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Government Press Release

Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, at the Legislative Council meeting today (March 2):

Question:

In its paper submitted to the Commission on Strategic Development in January this year, the Environment Bureau states that at present Hong Kong achieves 49% municipal solid waste (MSW) recovery rate but about 13,300 tonnes of waste are still disposed of at landfills every day. In order to further reduce the volume of waste to be sent to landfills, the Government indicates that the MSW recovery target will be revised upward from 49% at present to 55% by 2015. Moreover, in his reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on October 27 last year, the Secretary for the Environment indicated that on average about 255 tonnes of waste glass containers were disposed of at landfills in Hong Kong daily in 2009, which was 2.8% of the total MSW volume. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) apart from the collaboration between the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and the Hong Kong Hotels Association in launching a voluntary Glass Container Recycling Programme for the Hotel Sector in 2008, whether the Government had, in the past three years, provided any support to non-profit organisations and private organisations which participated in other glass recycling programmes; if it had, of the form of support, the contents and geographical coverage of such recycling programmes; if not, the reasons for that;

(b) regarding the 12-month Pilot Programme on Source Separation of Glass Bottles, which has been launched at six public rental housing estates in East Kowloon by EPD in collaboration with the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) since January 15 this year, whether the Government has assessed its initial achievements; if it has, of the results; and

(c) whether the authorities will include the recycling of waste glass in the Programme on Source Separation of Domestic Waste implemented by HA and change the 3-coloured waste separation bins currently placed in public rental housing estates to 4-coloured waste separation bins; if they will, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

(a) In 2008, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) joined hand with the Hong Kong Hotels Association to launch the Glass Container Recycling Programme for the Hotel Sector. So far, over 1,000 tonnes of glass bottles have been recovered. Besides, we have also encouraged those hotels that have not joined the recycling programme and the large catering service providers, such as the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, to actively organise their own glass bottles recycling and deliver the bottles collected to local recycling facilities for processing so as to facilitate recycling.

The EPD also actively supports local non-profit making organisations to organise glass bottle recycling activities locally and provides them with advice and assistance on the recycling. These activities include the glass bottle recycling campaign launched by the Hong Chi Association with fund from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to collect glass bottles at its 13 service centres throughout the territory as well as in the pub district at Minden Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui. Besides, with funding support from the Environment and Conservation Fund, the Hong Kong Dumper Truck Drivers Association launched and promoted glass bottle recycling at the pub district in Wan Chai and some housing estates in East Hong Kong.

(b) In collaboration with the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA), the EPD launched the 12-month Pilot Programme on Source Separation of Glass Bottles in mid December 2010 at six public rental housing estates in East Kowloon, namely, Shun Lee Estate, Shun On Estate, Shun Tin Estate, Choi Ying Estate, Upper Ngau Tau Kok Estate and Yau Lai Estate. HKHA has placed glass bottle recycling bins alongside the existing 3-coloured waste separation bins in the lobbies or near the entrances of each residential block in the participating estates to facilitate the separation and recycling of glass bottles by residents. In the first two months of the pilot programme up to mid February this year, a total of 5.2 tonnes of glass (i.e. around 10,000 plus glass bottles) have been successfully recovered.

(c) Before considering to extend the existing waste separation and recovery system to cover waste glass bottles, we must ensure the availability of suitable and sustainable outlets for waste glass. To this end, the EPD funded a study carried out by a local university in 2004 which successfully used the granules from crushed glass bottles for the production of paving blocks. Since October 2010, the Highways Department has stipulated in its public road maintenance contracts that priority should be given to eco-paving blocks containing recycled glass for paving concrete block pavements, which could help promote the development of glass bottle recycling industry. In January 2011, the Government further issued a circular to all departments to encourage the use of recycled and other green materials in public works projects.

We will study furthering the recovery of glass bottles in Hong Kong with reference to the results of the Pilot Programme on Source Separation of Glass Bottles so as to better utilise our valuable resources.

Incinerator on island 'to add pollution'
22 February 2011
South China Morning Post

An incinerator on an artificial island near south Lantau would bring more air pollution to several pollution hot spots in the city than it would if the plant is built in Tuen Mun, according to a study.

The study to assess the environmental impact of the facility shows north Lantau, the airport and Kwai Tsing will suffer from higher levels of nitrogen dioxide if the waste burning plant is built on Shek Kwu Chau.

It says the hourly concentration of air pollutants will increase by up to 14 micrograms at the airport island, compared with 4mcg if the plant is built in Tsang Tsui, Tuen Mun.

The study also predicts that areas on the airport island and on an artificial island of a cross-border bridge checkpoint under construction will also be affected.

However, if the plant is built in Tuen Mun, the study says the cumulative pollution in the area and Nim Wan will be higher if a power plant and a landfill in Tsang Tsui are taken into consideration.

North Lantau includes the Tung Chung new town and neighbouring rural villages.

Kwai Chung is home to the container cargo terminals and is already busy with road and marine traffic.

The study says south Lantau, which has fewer inhabitants than Tuen Mun, would see an increase of up to 11.1mcg in nitrogen dioxide levels under the island option, compared with 6.6mcg under the Tsang Tsui option. However, the cumulative reading is higher in Tuen Mun under the Tsang Tsui option.

These findings went unreported at a briefing that environmental officials gave yesterday at an Island District Council meeting. Politicians and residents from Cheung Chau expressed their anger and frustration at the site selection.

"It is unfair to take just a tiny outlying island to manage all the trash from the city. Every Hong Kong citizen should bear the responsibility of their own waste," district councillor Amy Yung Wing-sheung said.

"I don't understand why they don't pick the Tuen Mun site which takes two years less to build," district councillor Yung Chi-ming said.

The Environment Bureau last week said it preferred Shek Kwu Chau over Tsang Tsui because trips to dispose of waste on the island would be shorter.

The incinerator also would bring jobs and other benefits to nearby places such as Cheung Chau.

The impact study released for public consultation says both places meet the minimum environmental requirements but it does not say which site it prefers.

Officials say the incinerator will meet the most stringent international emission standards.

About 2,900 tonnes of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide and 217 tonnes of respirable suspended particles will be emitted a year.

The choice of the island has sparked concerns that the selection was a political decision to avoid opposition from Tuen Mun in the run-up to district council election this year and legislative polls next year.

According to the study, the Shek Kwu Chau option will require up to 16 hectares of reclamation and the installation of undersea power cables, resulting in the loss of 31 hectares of fishing ground. Construction will also take two more years.

Whichever site is picked, the hourly nitrogen dioxide level at the airport's Regal Hotel is expected to hit 294mcg, against the current air quality objective of 300mcg - a target that may be lowered in the future.

A consultant hired by the Environmental Protection Department for the impact study last week said the Tsang Tsui option was less favourable because of the existence of emission sources in the area.

A department spokeswoman yesterday said they needed more time to respond to inquiries from the South China Morning Post regarding the air pollution predictions.

"Change waste to gold" through reduction, recycling and waste to energy technology
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Government Press Release

The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, and other guests today (March 12) officiated at the "Change Waste to Gold" launching ceremony - a strategy which aims to promote waste reduction at source, waste recycling and waste to energy technology.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Yau said that while Hong Kong's current waste recovery rate had reached 49%, about 9,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste were still disposed of at landfills every day. At this rate, the three existing landfills will reach capacity one after another from 2014 onwards.

To tackle the waste problem facing Hong Kong, Mr Yau said the Government had devised a comprehensive strategy and action plan including a number of initiatives to reduce waste at source. The target is to further increase the waste recovery rate to 55% by 2015.

He called on the community to join hands to reach the waste reduction target and proper waste management for the sustainable development of Hong Kong.

During the "Change Waste to Gold" launching ceremony held at Plaza Hollywood, Diamond Hill, today, the guests shared green tips in their daily lives and took part in games to enhance the public's awareness of environmental protection. The games received an enthusiastic response from the audience.

The event also invited participants of the Japan Eco Tour to share their observations on green facilities in Japan, including visits to Maishima Waste Treatment Centre and Yumenoshima Tropical Greenhouse Dome. They suggested that Hong Kong could make reference to the waste management measures and facilities, pollution control and waste to energy technology there.

Attending today's ceremony included guests from the Advisory Council on the Environment, green companies and social enterprise.

An exhibition on green awareness is being held at Plaza Hollywood today and tomorrow, from noon to 6pm. There are interactive games and models to demonstrate the idea of "change waste to gold", converting waste into useful materials.

Hong Kong may need to build at least five incinerators to deal with solid waste, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam- kuen believes.

Fishermen launch incinerator protest
The Standard
Friday, March 18, 2011

Cheung Chau fishermen called on the government to scrap plans to build an incinerator near Shek Kwu Chau, saying the construction will have a serious impact on their livelihood and the fishing industry as a whole.

About 200 fishing boats yesterday took part in a rare seaborne demonstration sailing from Cheung Chau pier to Shek Kwu Chau and back, with fluttering banners stating their grievances.

Fishermen's representative Chan Shup-ng said their main concern is the reclamation of 16 hectares of land for an artificial island on which the incinerator will be built.

"The reclamation of the land will limit the expansion of our fish farms," Chan said.

"There are not many suitable areas in Hong Kong waters for fish farms." The livelihood of around 600 fishermen will be affected.

He said the reclamation process will generate mud that will worsen water quality and pose a threat not only to the fish farms but also to fish breeding in general.

"We fishermen are very angry about this plan because the government has not tried to see the problem from our side. Why doesn't the government build an incinerator further out to sea instead of inland?"

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong legislator Wong Yun-kan, who represents the agriculture and fisheries industries, said the government needs to clearly explain to fishermen the possible impact of the incinerator project.

"The fishermen have lots of genuine concerns about the project," he said.

"And the government also needs to think about possible compensation should the project affect their livelihoods."

Last month, about 40 residents of Cheung Chau petitioned the government to abandon the proposal.

They said pollutants from the incinerator may be harmful to residents' health.

They also said many Hong Kong residents and tourists visit Cheung Chau not only for its seafood but because of the fresh air.

Incinerator design can make it a tourist draw, environment official says
20 March 2011
South China Morning Post

The Environmental Protection Department believes the incinerator proposed for Shek Kwu Chau would become a draw for tourists interested in architecture and technology.

Its assistant director Elvis Au Wai-kwong pointed to incinerators in Japan and Austria as examples of how such waste treatment facilities can draw visitors.

"Tourists are attracted by the landmark buildings they build and the modern educational facilities," Au said. "They attract tourists because of the architecture and the modern facilities they provide."

Au was speaking before a meeting tomorrow of a committee of the department's Advisory Council on the Environment, called to discuss the government's report on the choice of the island off Lantau for the incinerator, which has sparked a backlash from environmental groups and a series of protests over the past week.

Au said his department had not yet spoken to the Tourism Board about how such a facility might be marketed to visitors, nor about any effect it might have on nearby Cheung Chau, which relies heavily on the visitors that each weekend, according to the board, double the island's population of about 25,000.

Conservationists have expressed concern at the impact of a "mega incinerator" on species such as the finless porpoise, the white-bellied sea eagle and two snakes endemic to Shek Kwu Chau, while fishermen say the plan would destroy fishing grounds and ruin their livelihoods.

"We are still in the planning stage, we are still planning the facilities and we are going to engage with the stakeholders by meeting them in the future," Au said.

The economy of Cheung Chau would benefit, he said, because ferries would be employed to take the 1,000 or so people employed on construction of the incinerator to and from the island for meals.

Cheung Chau residents, who have held a series of protests over the past week, remain unconvinced that the proposal would have any positive effect on their lives.

"To be honest, no one really knows anything," said Rammy Chau, owner of the Lovely Island Restaurant on the Cheung Chau harbourfront directly facing Shek Kwu Chau.

"We might get a short-term benefit from construction workers but it's hard to see any international visitors coming to see waste disposal in the long term. There also has to be an effect on us in terms of pollution, and no mention has been made on what happens with the boats that will go past full of rubbish."

The incinerator would emit about 2,900 tonnes of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, and 217 tonnes of respirable suspended particles per year, according to an environmental impact study.

"It doesn't seem to have been thought through or explained," Chau said. "But we are a small community with no voice. If they put four small incinerators in four parts of town, Hong Kong as a community could share the burden - and no one would complain. Instead we are left having one huge one and a lot of questions."

The government rejected an alternative site in Tuen Mun.

The department says figures provided by the Maishima incinerator in Japan show it has received about 300 visitors a week since it opened in 2001 - although how many of them were students and how many international tourists could not be defined.

Visitors to Cheung Chau yesterday showed concern about the plans.

"I come here every time I come to Hong Kong," San Franciscan Sandra Tang said. "We love the city but Cheung Chau is an escape and you can enjoy the heritage and nature. We heard about the incinerator {hellip} and it seems strange that anyone would want to put it in an area that has somehow remained so unspoilt."

Huge dump to be sited off Brothers
The Standard
Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A new sediment dump will be built north of Lantau by 2016, the Development Bureau said.

The five million cubic meter dump will be to the south of The Brothers Islands - two islands north of Lantau.

About 400 out of the SAR's 3,700 registered fishing boats are expected to be affected.

The bureau estimates that total compensation for affected fishermen under its ex-gratia allowance mechanism for any economic loss caused by the proposed dump will amount to about HK$4.12 million.

The bureau will seek approval from the Legislative Council's Finance Committee for an estimated HK$590.9 million for dredging works as well as to manage and cap the dump, which is made up of two mud pits in the seabed, a spokesman said.

Dredging work will commence in November for completion by June 2016, with the first pit available by the end of 2013.

"We hope to start the work as soon as possible since we expect 13.5 million cubic meters of contaminated sediments to require disposal from this year to 2016," the spokesman said.

"The current disposal facility at the east of Sha Chau is about 9.8 million cubic meters, which is inadequate to meet the forecast disposal demand," he added.

Meanwhile, the bureau also announced that a new arrangement for so- called inflated buildings will be in place from the start of next month.

Developers will have to confirm that a project has been registered for the Building Environmental Assessment Method Plus assessment when they submit their building plan.

The problem with "inflated buildings" stems from some developers using a concession that allows private buildings to increase floor area.

I wonder what's the reason behind picking the Brothers... isn't it again going to affect the dolphins in the surrounding waters again...?

Then we have to find a way to ship all that waste out, which would be costly and if any mishap happens, it'll be a nasty cleanup operation.

Rare wildlife will be threatened by Shek Kwu Chau incinerator
23 March 2011
SCMP

In 1997, the government designated south Lantau and nearby islands for conservation and sustainable recreation. Yet, this year, there are plans for a waste incinerator on a giant artificial island that will be built beside Shek Kwu Chau, just west of Cheung Chau. The community was given just a month to make comments.

Bob Bunker ("Island incinerator will not use Japan's clean-burn technology", March 3) noted that officials are telling us incinerators are safe for urban areas, yet we must build ours as far away as possible. There are more contradictions, many questions arise, and Shek Kwu Chau is clearly an appalling choice as an incinerator site.

The environmental impact assessment shoehorns Shek Kwu Chau into appearing a viable site. Sai Kung islands are rejected for incinerator sites, as these and nearby areas are "popular locations for various recreational activities". So why not reject Shek Kwun Chau as a potential site?

Though tiny, it is a remarkable island for biodiversity. Two kinds of snake are only known from here. It is also home to a lizard found on only three islands in the world, two-thirds of all Hong Kong's butterfly species, and our most magnificent breeding bird of prey, the white-bellied sea eagle.

Proponents argue the incinerator island will be separate from the island. Yet the reclamation will occupy an area similar to Victoria Park - killing corals, and affecting the best fishing grounds by Cheung Chau, as well as a prime location for the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise, regarded as globally vulnerable to extinction. The EIA merely states the impact will be "acceptable", without giving details or answering: acceptable to whom, exactly?

The impact may be acceptable to officials such as Elvis W. K. Au, of the Environmental Protection Department ("Reduce waste, but also prepare for incinerator", March 19). Yet they should not be acceptable to Hong Kong people, for whom the incinerator may be out of sight, but will not be out of lungs. Summer south-westerlies will waft emissions right across Hong Kong.

There are alternatives. The government had favoured siting the incinerator at ash lagoons near Tuen Mun. It seems politics intervened: the government became afraid Tuen Mun people (and property developers?) would kick up a fuss.

Green Island Cement company has a plan, too. Unlike the government-touted incinerators, this would utilise technology that has been tried and tested in Hong Kong, with results showing emissions at levels well below the standards the government will aim for. There is industrial land available, with infrastructure; the capacity can exceed the government's planned incinerator, and the cost will be far lower - around HK$3 billion compared to HK$8 billion for Shek Kwu Chau.

Such options deserve fuller consideration. Hong Kong should not rush this consultation process. The government may wish to hide the incinerator away from the city, but it would be wrong to do so by damaging one of our loveliest and most ecologically significant coastal areas.

Martin Williams, Cheung Chau

Waste incinerator report gets advisers' green light
12 April 2011
South China Morning Post

A controversial report on the environmental impact of a planned waste incinerator was given the green light yesterday by government environment advisers.

The study was approved by the Advisory Council on the Environment amid charges by the plan's opponents of irregularities in the way it was conducted.

Council chairman Professor Paul Lam Kwan-sing said members were generally satisfied with the officials' explanation of the way they had carried out the impact assessment. "So far, the government has not made any decision [as to where to build an incinerator] and that the council will certainly discuss it again when a decision is made," he said. At the centre of the issue is the environmental assessment impact report on the first phase of the "development of integrated waste management facilities" - that is, waste incinerator(s) - to dispose of municipal solid waste.

Departing from the usual practice of studying the best development site identified, the incinerator study covers two sites - Tuen Mun and Shek Kwu Chau - and also incorporates an option of having an incinerator in each of the two places in the later stage of the study.

"The proposed project will be located at the Middle Tsang Tsui Ash Lagoon in Tuen Mun and/or an artificial island near Shek Kwu Chau with a size of about 11 hectares," according to the study cited in the council meeting yesterday.

But council member Edwin Lau Che-feng, who is also director of Friends of the Earth, questioned the way the study was conducted.

"It will unavoidably give people an impression that the government might have some hidden agenda, that is, to build two incinerators instead of one," said Lau.

A former council member, Dr Ng Cho-nam, said: "This time, they started with two and ended up studying three options. In the future, they can do five or six in one go and the council has no power to say no to it."

New landfill proposal runs into opposition
The Standard
Wednesday, May 04, 2011

The government is making a new bid to extend the landfill at Tseung Kwan O - by reducing the overall size and pledging to spend an extra HK$72 million to get rid of the smell.

However, the proposal has a long way to go before it can be tabled for a vote in the Legislative Council as it has not even gone past the district council.

Speaking at the Sai Kung District Council meeting yesterday, Environmental Protection Director Anissa Wong Sean-yee said the size of the extension will be reduced from 15.6 hectares, as originally proposed, to 13 hectares.

If the community supports the proposal, the landfill will only be used for construction waste and the government will spend HK$72 million to put up exhaust ducts or exhaust wells, Wong said.

"In view of increasing infrastructure construction as well as the renewal of old districts and old buildings, more industrial waste is expected, which needs to be disposed of. We have the responsibility to build the landfill," Wong said.

However, some district councillors did not buy the idea.

Independent lawmaker Christine Fong Kwok-shan threatened to seek a judicial review if the scheme goes ahead.

Another district councillor, Gary Fan Kwok-wai of the Neo Democrats, said the district has had enough of landfills.

"We have about one-tenth of the land, which is 150 hectares out of 1,700 hectares, to build three landfills. We have spent 25 years on this and I can boldly say we have fulfilled our responsibility on municipal solid waste. There should be no more extensions," Fan said.

However, some district councillors might consider the proposal if the Clearwater Bay Country Park is not part of the extension.

The Planning Department said it will invite stakeholders' views before the Town Planning Board endorses the plan.

New landfill proposal runs into opposition
The Standard
Wednesday, May 04, 2011

The government is making a new bid to extend the landfill at Tseung Kwan O - by reducing the overall size and pledging to spend an extra HK$72 million to get rid of the smell.

However, the proposal has a long way to go before it can be tabled for a vote in the Legislative Council as it has not even gone past the district council.

Speaking at the Sai Kung District Council meeting yesterday, Environmental Protection Director Anissa Wong Sean-yee said the size of the extension will be reduced from 15.6 hectares, as originally proposed, to 13 hectares.

If the community supports the proposal, the landfill will only be used for construction waste and the government will spend HK$72 million to put up exhaust ducts or exhaust wells, Wong said.

"In view of increasing infrastructure construction as well as the renewal of old districts and old buildings, more industrial waste is expected, which needs to be disposed of. We have the responsibility to build the landfill," Wong said.

However, some district councillors did not buy the idea.

Independent lawmaker Christine Fong Kwok-shan threatened to seek a judicial review if the scheme goes ahead.

Another district councillor, Gary Fan Kwok-wai of the Neo Democrats, said the district has had enough of landfills.

"We have about one-tenth of the land, which is 150 hectares out of 1,700 hectares, to build three landfills. We have spent 25 years on this and I can boldly say we have fulfilled our responsibility on municipal solid waste. There should be no more extensions," Fan said.

However, some district councillors might consider the proposal if the Clearwater Bay Country Park is not part of the extension.

The Planning Department said it will invite stakeholders' views before the Town Planning Board endorses the plan.

Chief Executive expresses worries about legal barriers
20 May 2011
China Daily - Hong Kong Edition

Tsang says 80 major works projects held up by judicial reviews, affecting economy

The chief executive has voiced concerns that judicial reviews launched against some 80 capital works projects threaten to damage the Hong Kong's competitive position economically and leave the city at risk of becoming marginalized.

"In Hong Kong, our various infrastructure projects have run into trouble, and I cannot help but worry for Hong Kong's competitiveness," Chief Executive Donald Tsang told lawmakers at a Legislative Council question-and-answer session on Thursday.

"There are views in the community that some political parties or political figures were using legal proceedings under the pretext of environmental protection ... so as to block works in order to achieve political objectives. They do not mind undermining the overall and long-term interests of Hong Kong," he said.

A judicial review launched by 56-year-old local resident Chu Yee-wah has thrown several projects into doubt after the High Court ruled some of the government's environmental impact assessments lacked a proper baseline study.

The wake of that judgment has created barriers from roughly 80 other projects, including the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, a planned incinerator to alleviate the city's pressing sanitation problem and a planned rail link between Central and Shatin.

Unable to quantify the total running losses as a result of the delays, Tsang said each lost year of work on the super bridge would result in HK$2 billion in losses, while construction costs continued to rise, complicating budgets even further.

He also queried whether those attempting to block major development works such as the super bridge are intent on stifling economic development, job creation and further integration with the mainland.

Tsang's concerns came on the heels of a report by the Swiss business school IMD that ranked Hong Kong first along side the United States in a study of 59 countries and regions in terms of competitiveness.

The report released Wednesday recommended that Hong Kong continue to develop its links with the mainland, especially with the Pearl River Delta region.

That echoed a similar suggestion by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which said Hong Kong will likely be surpassed in five years by mainland cities, after it ranked Hong Kong as the most competitive Chinese city for a sixth year in a row.

Unable to comment further because of ongoing court proceedings, Tsang added the government is appealing the decision and is committed to following the letter of the law.

"I understand the public is concerned about the likely impacts on economic development and employment and whether these would affect our economic integration with the mainland. If we'll not be able to jump on the bandwagon of rapid economic development of the country, we'll be marginalized and lose out in the competition," he said.

On the social welfare, Tsang said the administration will focus on perfecting existing the Mandatory Provident Fund instead of creating a universal retirement scheme, because there will be inequalities in funding the system that inevitably will lead to higher taxes.

Tsang also said the government planned to unveil a retooled Air Quality Objective later this year.

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LCQ20: South East New Territories Landfill
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Government Press Release

http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/prob_solutions/images/sent_l.jpg
Source : EPD

Following is a question by the Hon Miriam Lau Kin Yee and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for the Environment, Dr Kitty Poon, at the Legislative Council meeting today (June 23):

Question:

Quite a number of Tseung Kwan O residents have indicated to me that the environmental problems created by the South East New Territories ("SENT") Landfill since its commissioning have caused nuisances to them for a long time. Recently, the Planning Department submitted a paper to the Sai Kung District Council proposing to further extend the SENT Landfill area, including designating about five hectares of land in Clear Water Bay Country Park and about 15.6 hectares of land in Tseung Kwan O Area 137 for landfill extension purpose. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council :

(a) of the number of complaints received about the SENT Landfill since its commissioning, together with a breakdown of the complaints by category; how the authorities follow up such complaints;

(b) given that it has been recently reported that it is expected that the proposed extension of the SENT Landfill will aggravate the adverse impact on residents in the district, including the environment (in terms of odour and visual impact), traffic and the health of the residents nearby, and will also affect Chai Wan district, which is situated on the other side of the bank opposite to Tseung Kwan O, and the authorities had indicated in its paper to the Panel on Environmental Affairs of this Council in October 2008 that they would adopt a number of mitigation measures for the proposed extension of the SENT Landfill in accordance with the principle of avoidance, minimisation and compensation as set out in the Technical Memorandum of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499), whether they have assessed if such mitigation measures can resolve the aforesaid adverse impact on residents in the district; whether the authorities have other mitigation measures; if they have, of the details;

(c) of the daily average numbers of trips run by refuse collection vehicles and vehicles carrying construction waste which travel to and from the SENT Landfill through Tseung Kwan O at present, and the expected changes in the respective vehicular flows of the aforesaid two types of vehicles after the extension of the landfill; what measures the authorities have to mitigate the traffic impact and odour nuisance caused by such vehicles in the Tseung Kwan O district;

(d) whether the authorities will plan to require the use of compressed and enclosed type of refuse collection vehicles to travel to and from the SENT Landfill, so as to prevent wastes from spattering and emitting odour during transportation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(e) given that the proposed extension of the SENT Landfill will cover 15.6 hectares of industrial land in Tseung Kwan O Area 137, of the original planned use for the site; whether the proposed extension of the landfill will affect the development potential of other industrial land lots in Area 137, and as a result, reduce the employment opportunities within the area for residents in the district;

(f) given that it has been reported that the authorities plan to supply the methane generated by the wastes in the SENT Landfill after its extension to the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited ("Towngas") for conversion into gas, whether the authorities will request Towngas to reduce the tariff for Tseung Kwan O residents, so as to compensate for their being plagued by the environmental problems caused by the landfill for a long time; and

(g) given that the life of the SENT Landfill will be extended to 2019 after the proposed extension, whether the authorities have planned to further expand the area of the landfill, with a view to extending the life of the landfill again?

Reply:

President,

(a) The development of the South East New Territories (SENT) Landfill started in the 1990s and was commissioned in 1994, and its operation has been assessed as meeting international standards.

Since 2005, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has received complaints about odour problem in the Tseung Kwan O town and the related figures are as follows:

Year Figures
2005 106
2006 165
2007 459
2008 943
2009 629

Most of the complaints were received in hot and rainy months.

Apart from the SENT Landfill, there are potential sources of odour nuisance in Tseung Kwan O. In this connection, the District Officer of Sai Kung has established an inter-departmental working group comprising representatives from the Sai Kung District Office, EPD, Drainage Services Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), District Lands Office and Highways Department. It aims to investigate and follow up on potential sources of odour under the purview of various departments with a view to abating the local odour nuisance. The working group has held a number of meetings, conducted joint inspections in Tseung Kwan O, and stepped up cleaning of the sites where odour may be emitted. We will continue our work on this front.

The EPD looks into each complaint about odour nuisance independently to identify the odour source. The EPD also informs the complainant of the investigation results of each case.

The EPD understands that Tseung Kwan O residents are concerned about the odour nuisance. The Department has stepped up odour management and control measures to further abate the potential odour impact of the Landfill. Such measures implemented so far include for example covering the tipping face with a thicker layer of soil at the end of the daily waste reception process; covering the non-active tipping face with temporary impermeable liner; setting up fixed deodorisers at the Landfill boundary; providing additional mobile deodorisers at the tipping area; putting a mobile cover on the special waste trench; and installing additional landfill gas extraction pipes and mobile landfill gas flares. The EPD will continue to implement the above measures. In addition, the Department is planning to construct an 800-metre wall along the boundary of the Landfill facing the industrial estate to abate environmental and visual impacts on the surrounding area. The EPD will also upgrade the existing facility for wheel washing to full-body vehicle washing facility to ensure that the entire body of every refuse collection vehicle is washed before leaving the Landfill.

(b) The Government has been working hard to promote waste reduction at source in recent years. Last year, the recovery rate of municipal solid waste has reached 49%. However, as we currently rely almost entirely on landfilling as our only means of waste disposal and the total municipal solid waste disposed of at landfill is about 9,000 tonnes per day, this has exerted pressure on our valuable landfill space. The proposed extension of the SENT Landfill (the proposed Extension) aims to continue an effective management of the municipal solid waste generated in Hong Kong every day when the existing SENT Landfill reaches its capacity. The EPD completed the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and traffic impact assessment on the proposed Extension in 2008. The EIA has studied in detail the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Extension, covering air quality (including odour), ecology, noise, waste management, water quality, landfill gas as well as landscape and visual impacts, and recommended effective mitigation measures. Apart from Tseung Kwan O, the study on air quality, noise and visual impacts also covered Siu Sai Wan area in northeast of Hong Kong Island. According to the EIA Report, with the implementation of the recommended mitigation measures, the anticipated environmental impacts are acceptable and will meet the relevant requirements under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) and its Technical Memorandum. The EIA was approved by the Authority in May 2008. The traffic impact assessment points out that the Landfill Extension will not have any adverse impact on the traffic. The EPD will ensure that the recommended mitigation measures will be strictly implemented, the works under the proposed Extension will comply with the conditions set out in the environmental permit issued under the EIAO, and the operation of the Landfill will not create any adverse impact on the residents nearby.

(c)According to the statistics for 2009, on average the SENT Landfill received about 1,050 vehicle loads daily, including about 510 vehicle loads of municipal solid waste.

According to the traffic impact assessment on the proposed Extension, the number of vehicles travelling to and from the Landfill Extension will be similar to that of vehicles travelling to and from the SENT Landfill at present. Therefore, the vehicular flow will be approximately the same upon the exhaustion of the SENT Landfill and the commissioning of the Landfill Extension. As such, the Landfill Extension will not create any adverse impact on the traffic. However, to abate effectively the odour from refuse collection vehicles, the EPD will implement a number of odour mitigation measures under the proposed Extension. They include enclosing entirely the weighbridge area, providing a vehicle washing facility at the exit from the Landfill Extension, and reminding drivers of refuse collection vehicles to take heed of hygiene and keep their vehicles clean.

(d) Currently there are three strategically located landfills in the territory. Coupled with seven refuse transfer stations, they form a solid waste disposal network which handles the waste generated daily by the community. Bulk waste transfer is adopted to avoid large number of small refuse collection vehicles travelling in the urban areas. The SENT Landfill mainly receives commercial, industrial as well as construction wastes from Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Sai Kung District and domestic waste from Tseung Kwan O and Sai Kung collected by private waste collectors. It is the private waste collectors' own commercial decisions to choose the types of their refuse collection vehicles. To reduce the environmental impacts of refuse collection vehicles, the EPD regularly draws the attention of the trade to road safety as well as the cleanliness and hygiene of their refuse collection vehicles at landfill liaison meetings. At the meetings of the inter-departmental working group, the EPD also refers the complaints about refuse collection vehicles received to the relevant departments for follow-up. Moreover, the EPD distributes leaflets to drivers of refuse collection vehicles on a monthly basis through the landfill contractors to remind the drivers of the operation practice of refuse collection vehicles, so that they can keep their vehicles clean and tidy. Under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, the FEHD may, with sufficient evidence, institute prosecutions against people concerned in case of refuse collection vehicles dirtying public roads.

(e) The 15.6 hectares of land in Tseung Kwan O Area 137 rezoned for the extension of the SENT Landfill as shown on the draft Tseung Kwan O Outline Zoning Plan No. S/TKO/18 was previously zoned "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Deep Waterfront Industry" ("OU(DWI)") on the earlier version of the Tseung Kwan O Outline Zoning Plan No. S/TKO/17. According to the Notes of the Outline Zoning Plan, the "OU(DWI)" zone is intended primarily for special industries which require marine access, access to deep water berths or water frontage. The subject area for the extension of the SENT Landfill is located inland which does not have access to the sea. Although part of the area in Area 137 is proposed for the extension of the SENT Landfill, the remaining area is still zoned as "OU(DWI)", which has an area of about 86.9 hectares of land with marine frontage unaffected to meet the long term need of deep waterfront industries.

(f) To utilise the landfill gas generated from the SENT Landfill more effectively, the EPD has been exploring a large-scale landfill gas recovery and utilisation project with the contractor of the SENT Landfill and the town gas producer. The EPD is studying its feasibility and contractual arrangements.

(g) We estimate that the SENT Landfill will reach its capacity in mid-2010s. We hope to complete the planning in time so that the SENT Landfill Extension can be commissioned immediately after the exhaustion of the SENT Landfill. Our current projection is that the Landfill Extension will reach its capacity in about six years, and then we can proceed with restoration and aftercare of the Landfill Extension. Apart from the proposed Extension, the Government has no plan to further expand the area of the SENT Landfill.

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Funding scheme on domestic food waste reduction and recycling launched
Government Press Release
Monday, July 4, 2011

The Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) today (July 4) rolled out a scheme to help housing estates reduce food waste and separate waste food at source.

Housing estates are encouraged to partner with non-government organisations to hold education and promotion programmes to raise residents' awareness of food waste reduction and engage their active participation in food waste recycling. The scheme also subsidises the installation and operation of on-site food waste treatment facilities at participating housing estates.

Food waste accounts for about one third (i.e. 3,000 tonnes) of the 9,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposed of at our landfills every day.

"The disposal of a large quantity of food waste at landfills is not sustainable. We hope that the funding scheme launched by the ECF for the reduction, collection and on-site treatment of food waste in housing estates can help raise public awareness, promote behavioural change, and reduce the disposal of food waste. The support of individual households is crucial to our effort to reduce the generation and disposal of food waste," a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) said.

The funding scheme is part of the Government's overall strategy to tackle food waste. Organic waste treatment facilities are being developed at Siu Ho Wan and Sha Ling to handle food wastes in bulk. At the same time, efforts are being made to encourage reduction of food waste and its proper treatment at source.

"Data collected and experience learned from participating estates can help us identify the factors for consideration in the wider promotion of food waste collection and recycling in Hong Kong. We hope the scheme will include a variety of housing in terms of their types, age and geographical areas so as to consolidate experiences for sharing in the future," the spokesman said,

The EPD will operate a help-desk service to provide technical advice to applicants during planning and implementation and assist them in identifying suitable places for locating their on-site food waste treatment facilities. To consolidate experience from the scheme, the help-desk service will also provide detailed operational guidelines and a reporting framework to help applicants conduct performance evaluation.

The Government announced in January 2011 a comprehensive action plan that includes a number of initiatives to reduce waste at source, coupled with modern waste treatment facilities and extension of landfills, to tackle the imminent waste problem using a multi-pronged approach. Through the ECF funding scheme, the EPD is encouraging housing estates to take concrete action to reduce food waste at source.

More information on the application procedures is available on the ECF website ( www.ecf.gov.hk ). Enquiries can be made through the hotline ( telephone number: 2788 5598 ) or email ( hd-fwrs@hkpc.org ).

Source Separation of Waste Programme receives good response
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Government Press Release

Over 500 representatives from property management companies, housing estates and commercial and industrial buildings joined a forum on source separation of waste and award presentation ceremony today (August 17). The event saw an enthusiastic response from those in attendance.

Officiating at today's event, the Permanent Secretary for the Environment/Director of Environmental Protection, Ms Anissa Wong, thanked the property management trade and the general public for their support for waste recycling and recovery, which had helped boost the domestic waste recovery rate from 14 per cent in 2004 to 35 per cent in 2009. Over the same period, domestic waste disposed of at landfills decreased by 15 per cent.

During the event, participants with outstanding performance in source separation last year were presented with awards and commendation certificates, and the representative from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) shared with participants the latest developments in food waste recycling at housing estates. There was also a preview of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre's environmental education drama, which will be staged in primary and secondary schools in the coming school year.

Since the launch of the Source Separation of Waste Programme in January 2005, over 1 700 housing estates and 700 rural villages have signed up to join it, covering over 80 per cent of Hong Kong's population. In October 2007, the EPD extended the programme to industrial and commercial buildings, and so far over 700 such buildings have joined the programme.

In January this year, the Government announced its comprehensive and complete strategy and updated action plan to tackle the waste problem in Hong Kong using a multi-pronged approach. The promotion of waste reduction and recycling is one of the core elements of the waste management strategy. To further enhance public awareness and raise the municipal solid waste recovery rate to 55 per cent by 2015, the EPD will continue to work with other government departments, the property management sector, the Mass Transit Railway Corporation, green groups, schools and non-governmental organisations to develop a wider recycling network at the community level to encourage and facilitate the collection of recyclables in the community.

The Forum on Source Separation of Waste and award presentation ceremony was held jointly by the EPD, the Hong Kong Association of Property Management Companies and the Hong Kong Productivity Council. More details of the programme are available on the EPD's Hong Kong waste reduction website (www.wastereduction.gov.hk).

Delay for landfill hearing as residents raise stink on time
The Standard
Thursday, November 17, 2011

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20111117/photo/1117-00176-040b2.jpg

A public hearing on the planned expansion of the Tseung Kwan O landfill has been postponed by two weeks following a protest by residents.

The Town Planning Board postponed the meeting soon after convening it when around 80 residents showed up at the board's North Point offices to demand a month's delay to allow them to pore through around 1,000 pages of documents that they received only less than a week ago.

The meeting is to evaluate the government's proposal to extend the landfill by 13 hectares.

District councillor Christine Fong Kwok-shan said only a few residents were given the papers on top of the limited time.

She accused the board of holding a fake consultation.

Her colleague, Raymond Ho Man- kit, called the hearing a conspiracy.

"How can the opponents absorb the information within a week? The planned extension stinks, and now the board wants to rub it in," said Ho, adding that enough residents as it is are already complaining about the bad smell from the dump and the traffic congestion caused by dump trucks.

Board chairman Thomas Chow Tat- ming hit back at the claims.

He said among the documents are a number of public submissions - most of them identical copies signed under different names. If approved, the board will submit the expansion plan to the Executive Council by April.

After a short meeting the board decided to postpone the hearing to November 30.

A board spokeswoman said this would give time to study the documents.

"Our usual practise is to send stakeholders the relevant information a week before a public hearing," she said.

Emotions delay landfill decision
The Standard
Thursday, December 01, 2011

The future of the Tseung Kwan O landfill hangs in the balance, with Town Planning Board members yet to make up their minds about a government move to expand it.

The board met yesterday to discuss the issue but the meeting was postponed when some residents became emotional.

About 40 Tseung Kwan O residents, accompanied by district councillors, protested outside the Town Planning Board's office in North Point yesterday.

They said the expansion will make the area unhygienic and affect the health of residents. They called on the government to have further consultations.

Sai Kung district councillor Raymond Ho Man-kit told the meeting that extending the 13-hectare landfill is unreasonable as local residents have already been suffering for a long time from the existing one.

"The atmosphere at the meeting became quite tense as some residents got very emotional, claiming their health was at risk," he said.

Nearly 400,000 people living in Tseung Kwan O will be affected.

In addition to the foul smell, residents of the area said they were affected by the traffic congestion caused by dumptrucks going to and from the site.

The board had to postpone the meeting after residents complained they had not had sufficient time to pore through almost 1,000 pages of documents which they received less than a week ago.

Residents also accused the board and district councillors of holding a fake consultation.

Ho said that even though the meeting was postponed, residents felt that the time was still not sufficient for them to go through all the documents.

Once the board approves the extension of the landfill, the plan will be submitted to the Executive Council by April next year.

The size of the Tseung Kwan O Area 137 extension was reduced to 13 hectares from the originally proposed 15.6 hectares.

Responding to concerns raised by residents, the government earlier said that the landfill extension will only be used for odorless waste - such as construction material.

Is that a stadium on the Island ?

LCQ9: Waste management strategy
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Government Press Release

Following is a question by the Hon Lee Wing-tat and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (February 1):

Question:

At present, Hong Kong mainly relies on landfills to treat its waste. Of the 18 000 tonnes of solid waste generated every day, 13 300 tonnes are disposed of at landfills. According to the progress of the key initiatives in the "Policy Framework for the Management of Municipal Solid Waste (2005-2014)", the Government has made a series of recommendations in respect of waste treatment, reduction and recycling, including the measures of developing an integrated waste management facility (IWMF) with a daily treatment capacity (including sorting and incinerating) of 3 000 tonnes of waste, raising the target of waste recovery rate from the present 49% to 55% by 2015, developing two organic waste treatment facilities (OWTFs) with daily treatment capacity of 200 and 300 tonnes respectively at Siu Ho Wan on North Lantau and Sha Ling in the North District, as well as reducing waste at source through direct economic incentives (e.g. introducing municipal solid waste charging and funding project of on-site food waste treatment), etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the breakdown of the volume of solid waste generated, the overall waste disposal rate at landfills and the waste recovery rate in Hong Kong in each of the past five years by type of waste, including glass, metal, plastics, paper, food waste, construction waste, sludge, electronic waste (including old computer and electrical appliance) and other waste (please specify the types);

(b) of the computation methods, standards and criteria for determining the aforesaid respective treatment capacity and target (including the daily capacity of IWMF to treat 3 000 tonnes of waste, the 55% target rate of waste recovery by 2015, as well as the daily treatment capacity of 200 and 300 tonnes of the two OWTFs);

(c) whether it has studied and assessed the amount of waste required to be reduced and the extent to which the waste recovery rate is required to be raised in Hong Kong in order to downsize the scale of the aforesaid IWMF and hence reduce its impacts on the environment with the adoption of waste reduction and recycling approaches for waste treatment; and

(d) given that at present, the Government has indicated that according to the medium to long-term planning strategy for waste management facilities, the construction of the IWMF on the artificial island near Shek Kwu Chau as compared to Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun will achieve a more well-balanced spatial distribution for waste management facilities in Hong Kong as a whole, yet the Government pointed out in the "Integrated Waste Management Facilities Site Selection Report" in 2008 (the 2008 Report) that compared to Shek Kwu Chau and other potential sites, Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun had achieved the highest overall score because of "the ease of integration with the existing landfill and waste reception facilities, much less impact on local ecology, shorter construction time, lower construction cost",

(i) whether the Government had referred to the 2008 Report in making the present proposal for the site; why the present proposal differs from the results in the 2008 Report;

(ii) of the respective overall costs for constructing the IWMF on the artificial island near Shek Kwu Chau and Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun, with a breakdown by cost item (e.g. construction cost, operating cost and transportation cost, etc.); and

(iii) whether it had assessed the respective economic benefits to be brought to the two districts by constructing the IWMF at the two aforesaid sites, with specific figures to illustrate such benefits?

Reply

President,

Treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW) is an unavoidable problem for every city. Our policy objective is to implement sustainable waste management strategies. Hong Kong generates about 18 000 tonnes of MSW daily. After discounting 52% of recovered materials from this generated quantity and adding other solid wastes (such as non-inert construction waste), we have to handle about 13 500 tonnes of waste daily, which are mostly disposed of at landfills before the introduction of large-scale modern waste treatment facilities. For a small and densely-populated city like Hong Kong, the practice of disposing a large quantity of waste generated daily in landfills is not sustainable.

To provide a more comprehensive and timely solution to the imminent waste problem in Hong Kong, the Government announced on January 4, 2011 a long-term action agenda to tackle the waste management problem of Hong Kong after reviewing the "2005-2014 Policy Framework for the Management of Municipal Solid Waste" (the Policy Framework). With "reduce, recycle and proper waste management" as the objective, the action agenda put forward the following three core strategies and the specific implementation timetable:

(i) strengthening efforts in promoting waste reduction at source and recycling at source;
(ii) introducing modern facilities for waste treatment; and
(iii) extending the existing landfills in a timely manner.

It should be noted that all these three strategies are essential to effectively resolve our waste management problem.

The Government has proposed a series of measures on waste treatment, reduction and recycling, which include raising the recovery target of MSW to 55% by 2015 through stepping up publicity and promotional efforts on waste reduction and recycling; expediting the legislative process for introducing new Producer Responsibility Schemes and extending the existing programmes to encourage waste reduction at source; consulting the public on possible options to introduce MSW charging as a direct economic disincentive to reduce waste at source. We will apply for funding from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council in early 2012 to expedite the development of advanced waste treatment facilities, including the integrated waste treatment facilities (IWTF) that can reduce the waste volume by 90% and turn waste into energy. In the meantime, we have to push ahead with the extension plans of existing landfills in order to maintain proper management of solid waste in compliance with the green requirements.

My reply to the question of the Honourable Mr Lee is as follows:

(a) A breakdown by quantities and major types of solid waste disposed of at landfills in the past five years, and as regards to waste recovery, a breakdown by the quantities generated and recovery rates of the major components of MSW in the past five years is available at the Annex.

(b) The Government has made reference to the historical trend of waste generation and recovery and the projections of social and economic activities in Hong Kong in assessing the future requirements for waste treatment. The assessments provided the basis for determining the demand and scale of the related waste treatment facilities. Waste reduction at source is a key component of our waste management strategy. As such, we will endeavour to forge a broad consensus within the community for the implementation of various waste reduction initiatives to complement the provision of facilities and upgrading of ancillary hardware.

Currently, the MSW recovery rate of Hong Kong stands at 52%, which compares favourably with many other cities at a similar level of development. Indeed, we have also exceeded the targets set in the 2005 Policy Framework (i.e. which aimed for 45% by 2009 and 50% by 2014). But we need to boost the recovery rate further. To this end, we will introduce a series of complementary measures and engage the relevant government departments, district councils, community organisations, the property management trade, restaurant operators and social services groups in order to raise the environmental awareness of the people in all walks of life and broaden their participation in waste reduction and recycling. Our objective is to raise the waste recovery rate to 55% by 2015.

The treatment capacity of waste treatment facilities was determined after a detailed analysis of various relevant factors. For instance, in planning the development of the local integrated waste treatment facilities (IWTF), we have reviewed the treatment capacities of similar facilities in other densely populated cities (such as Singapore which features similar demographic and geographical characteristics as Hong Kong) as well as our overall strategy on waste transfer and treatment (i.e. sending most of our local waste for compaction and containerisation at refuse transfer stations before transfer to landfills by marine transport). The final recommendation was phased development of IWMF in an appropriate scale with the daily capacity of the first phase IWTF set at 3 000 tonnes.

Currently, Hong Kong disposes of about 3 240 tonnes of food waste a day, of which about 840 tonnes are generated by the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector. Most of these food wastes end up in landfills. To address the problem of dumping food waste at landfills, the Government has adopted a multi-pronged approach. The key strategy is to prevent and minimise food waste generation and promote recovery and recycling to cope with unavoidable food waste through publicity, education and public participation. As storage of a large amount of food waste will give rise to odour nuisance and hygiene problems, it is not desirable to compact and containerise food waste at existing refuse transfer stations prior to long distance delivery. Instead, the food waste should be directly delivered to separate purpose-built facilities for special treatment. To this end, the Government plans to develop two organic waste treatment facilities (OWTF) with a daily capacity of 200-300 tonnes to treat source-separated biodegradable food waste from C&I establishments. A working group comprising representatives from the restaurant, hotel, property management and food manufacturing trades has been set up to draw up guidelines on ways to minimise, separate and recover food waste food waste. Through our site search study in 2007, we have identified possible sites at Siu Ho Wan of North Lantau and Sha Ling of North District for development of the first and second phases of the OWTF to treat food waste generated by the C&I sector in North Lantau, West Kowloon and Northern New Territories. We will also conduct site search studies for developing OWTF in other districts.

(c) We are committed to stepping up our efforts in reducing waste at source and recycling, as this is the only permanent solution to relieve the pressure for waste treatment. However, waste reduction at source and recycling cannot completely resolve waste problems in Hong Kong. The experience in Europe and other advanced cities shows that, even after the implementation of various measures on waste reduction at source, there is still a substantial amount of waste that cannot be recovered which requires treatment. As in Hong Kong, these cities handle their wastes by incineration in modern waste treatment facilities and landfilling the resultant ash.

For Hong Kong, there will still be a huge amount of MSW that cannot be recovered or recycled, amounting to about 8 000 tonnes per day (tpd), which requires treatment even after the target recovery rate of 55% is achieved. Given that our three landfills will become saturated in the next few years, we must plan for waste treatment by modern waste treatment facilities at the earliest opportunity to bring about a substantial reduction in landfilled waste. In view of the lead time required for planning and construction of waste treatment facilities, we must immediately commence the preparatory work for the first integrated waste management facility (IWMF) with a treatment capacity of 3 000 tpd and the two organic waste treatment facilities (at Siu Ho Wan and Sha Ling respectively).

(d)(i) The proposed site for the IWMF was chosen on the basis of substantial scientific studies and analyses and has taken into account the territory-wide spatial distribution of waste treatment facilities. We first conducted an initial territory-wide site selection study to examine the preliminary data of all possible sites in 2007-08 before identifying the sites at Tsang Tsui Ash Lagoons (TTAL) in Tuen Mun and the artificial island near Shek Kwu Chau (SKC) for further consideration in 2008.

As required under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance and the Technical Memorandum on the Environment Impact Assessment, we have conducted detailed environmental impact assessments (EIA) for the development of IWMF at these two sites to evaluate the cumulative impact of the project and other projects in respect of noise, air, water quality, waste, ecology, landscape and cultural heritage. The EIA report also recommended suitable mitigation measures to be adopted for ensuring that the environmental impact was limited to an acceptable level. It also recommended an environmental monitoring and audit programme for ensuring the effectiveness of these measures.

The EIA findings indicated that both phased and simultaneous development of IWMF at the two sites would meet the EIA requirements. Having considered the spatial distribution of our waste management facilities, environmental factors and transport efficiency, the Government selected the artificial island next to SKC as the site for the first IWMF on the following grounds:

- The proposed choice ensures a more balanced spatial distribution of waste facilities. For the Western New Territories, there is West New Territories Landfill and the proposed West New Territories Landfill extension. There is also a sludge treatment facility with a capacity of 2 000 tpd under construction at TTAL. For the North New Territories, there is North East New Territories Landfill and the proposed landfill extension. For the East New Territories, there is South East New Territories Landfill and proposed landfill extension. For the urban area, there is Tsing Yi Chemical Waste Treatment Centre. The development of the IWMF at the southern tip of Hong Kong will help achieve a more balanced spatial distribution of facilities;

- The artificial island next to SKC is closer to the Island East, Island West and Kowloon refuse transfer stations, the catchment area for the IWMF. The sea route for delivering solid waste from these stations to the artificial island next to SKC is shorten by 25% when compared with the route to TTAL in West New Territories. Moreover, the choice would not cause significant impact on the marine traffic in the area. Instead, it can help reduce the marine traffic in Ma Wan;

- The SKC site is far away from the densely populated areas. It is located at about 3.5 to 5 km from Cheung Chau, which is not in the direction of prevailing wind (northeasterly wind towards southwest in the sea). The IWMF will have advanced incineration technology and air cleansing systems on site to further minimise impact caused by gas emission on ambient air quality and, hence, the residents nearby; and

- The IWMF and its on-site educational and community facilities under planning would bring considerable economic benefits to the nearby islands (especially Cheung Chau). Apart from more jobs and ferry services, the development will also bring in streams of workers and visitors that will, in turn, generate other economic activities and benefits.

(ii) Regarding the overall costs, we are working on the estimates for the construction and operation costs of the integrated facilities, the necessary equipment and ancillary facilities. We will seek funding from the Legislative Council after completing the estimates.

(iii) Regarding the economic benefits generated during the construction and operation of the IWMF, there will be about 1,000 workers working on the island and in the surrounding waters during the peak construction period. When it commences operation, there will be about 200 workers working every day in the facility. Besides, the education centre and associated facilities for visitors at the IWMF under planning will also draw in students as well as other visitors. As the site on SKC is far from the urban areas, Cheung Chau will serve as its key back-up area, both during the construction and operation of the IWMF. This will provide a great boost to the economic activities related to accommodation, retail and catering trades in Cheung Chau. As for the TTAL site, it would also draw in comparable number of engineering staff, workers and visitors. But given its more convenient land transport, they are expected to spend less time at the nearby communities. As such, this option would generate less economic benefits for the local communities.

LCQ19: South East New Territories Landfill
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Government Press Release

Following is a question by the Hon Ip Wai-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council meeting today (February 1):

Questions:

The South East New Territories (SENT) Landfill, which is located in Area 101 at Tseung Kwan O and was commissioned in 1994, was originally expected to be exhausted by around 2013. The Government earlier pointed out that as the Integrated Waste Management Facilities which could effectively reduce the volume of waste requiring disposal at landfills would only be commissioned in mid 2010s, extension of the SENT Landfill in early to mid 2010s was therefore necessary. Apart from the odour from the SENT Landfill which affects the nearby residents, quite a number of drivers have recently complained to me that many dump trucks going in and out of the SENT Landfill via Wan Po Road are not properly covered with canvas, causing environmental pollution in the vicinity of Wan Po Road, and traffic accidents frequently occur there because stones and sand dropping from the cargo compartments of those dump trucks hit and break the windows of other vehicles on the road. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council :

(a) of the number of complaints about odour from the SENT Landfill received each month by the authorities in the past three years; whether the authorities have any new measure in place to alleviate the odour nuisance from the landfill; if they have, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that;

(b) whether the authorities had received any complaint in the past three years about environmental pollution in the vicinity of Wan Po Road; if they had, of the number and contents of such complaints;

(c) among the traffic accidents which occurred on Wan Po Road in the past three years, of the number of those involving dump trucks; whether the authorities have analysed the causes of such traffic accidents; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(d) whether the authorities had prosecuted dump truck drivers in the past three years for overloading or non-compliance with environmental protection measures; if they had, of the number of such prosecutions and the offences involved in general; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities have provided guidelines to advise vehicles entering the SENT Landfill to enhance their protective facilities; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will consider formulating such guidelines; and

(e) whether the authorities have conducted any environmental pollution survey in Tseung Kwan O district since the commissioning of the SENT Landfill; if they have, of the details; if not, whether the authorities have any plan to conduct a comprehensive environmental pollution survey in the district?

Reply:

President,

Hong Kong is now facing an imminent waste management problem. At present, about 13,500 tonnes of waste are disposed of daily at the three strategic landfills, namely South East New Territories (SENT) Landfill, North East New Territories Landfill and West New Territories Landfill and these three landfills are estimated to be exhausted in 2014, 2016 and 2018 respectively. To resolve the imminent waste management problem in a comprehensive and timely manner, the Government announced on January 4, 2011 a revised waste management strategy and its updated action plan to tackle the waste management problem in Hong Kong in the long run. With the initiatives of "Reduce, Recycle and Proper Waste Management", the Government brings up three strategies which include promoting waste reduction and recycling at source, introducing modern waste treatment facilities and timely extension of landfills.

Since early 2004 when the SENT Landfill extension project was at its conceptual and feasibility study stage, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has already started the consultation with all stakeholders. After prolonged discussion, the Government understands the views of the residents of Tseung Kwan O town on the SENT Landfill extension, and has positively addressed their concerns by scaling down the extension scheme. This means the reduced scheme will not occupy 5-hectares of the Clear Water Bay Country Park, the area of landfill extension in Tseung Kwan O Area 137 will be reduced to 13 hectares (as against the original 15.6 hectares), and the proposed SENT Landfill extension will only receive odourless waste (namely construction waste), in order to solve the odour problem of the landfill. We believe that if the revised SENT Landfill extension scheme could be implemented, the future SENT Landfill extension will only receive construction waste which is odourless, and the concerns from the residents will then be fully addressed.

Regarding the question raised by the Hon Ip, our replies are as follows:

(a) The number of odour complaints in Tseung Kwan O received by EPD relating to the landfill in the past three years is as follows:

2009 2010 2011
January 4 0 5
February 2 9 14
March 4 32 12
April 9 14 23
May 27 22 74
June 170 91 194
July 130 108 299
August 137 256 320
September 42 121 81
October 9 29 20
November 12 32 73
December 2 39 5
Total 548 753 1,120

To minimise the environmental impacts of the landfill on the surrounding areas, the landfill was designed and constructed to a high standard as a secure containment facility incorporating composite impermeable liner systems and proper systems for the collection and treatment of landfill gas and leachate. To address the concerns from the Tseung Kwan O residents on odour nuisance, the EPD has stepped up odour management and control measures over the past five years to further abate the potential odour impact of the landfill. These measures include covering the tipping areas with a layer of soil and then Posi-Shell Cover, a cement-based cover material, at the end of the daily waste reception process; covering the non-active tipping areas with temporary impermeable liners; setting up fixed deodorisers at the landfill boundary; providing additional mobile deodorisers at the tipping area; putting a mobile cover on the special waste trench; and installing additional landfill gas extraction pipes and mobile landfill gas flaring units. The EPD will continue to implement the above measures and ensure that the completed waste disposal areas are capped and restored promptly.

Refuse collection vehicles are one of the potential odour sources. To improve the cleanliness of these vehicles leaving the landfill, the EPD has upgraded the existing wheel washing facility into a full-body vehicle washing facility to ensure that the entire body of every refuse collection vehicle is washed before leaving the landfill to minimise the odour nuisance caused by such vehicles. To mitigate the potential odour problem caused by dripping leachate from refuse collection vehicles, the EPD will continue to step up the cleansing work for the section of Wan Po Road between the SENT Landfill and the roundabout at Hang Hau and review the effectiveness of this measure regularly.

(b) Between 2009 and 2011, the EPD received three odour emission complaints and seven dust emission cases against vehicles passing Wan Po Road.

(c) The traffic accident database does not have a separate category for dump trucks in its vehicle records. We have been informed that there were about 10 traffic accidents on Wan Po Road per year involving medium and heavy goods vehicles in the past three years, but there is no information on whether the accidents were related to conveying fill debris.

(d) The database on prosecution does not have a separate category for dump trucks in its vehicle records. As for vehicles entering the SENT Landfill, the EPD will remind the trade to cover properly the construction waste during conveyance to prevent dust emission or materials from falling off on the road at its regular meetings with the trade and through distribution of leaflets at the landfill.

(e) In response to the concerns from the Sai Kung District Council and residents, the EPD closely monitors and takes follow-up actions on the environmental problems in Tseung Kwan O including individual issues of concern such as odour. For example, electronic odour detection systems (i.e. electronic nose) were installed at Ocean Shores and SENT Landfill to help identify the nature and source of odour. For odour complaint cases, the EPD will promptly investigate and follow up. For instance, it will understand the odour situation at complaint location, identify the odour source and provide timely assistance. The EPD even extends the work shift of its staff to 11pm to handle odour complaints received outside office hours for the period between June and October when there are more odour complaints.

In addition, the Sai Kung District Officer has established an inter-departmental working group comprising representatives from the Sai Kung District Office, EPD, Hong Kong Police Force, Transport Department, Civil Engineering and Development Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Drainage Services Department, Sai Kung District Lands Office and Highways Department, to strengthen the co-ordination of investigation and follow-up actions among government departments to tackle environmental nuisances in Tseung Kwan O, including Wan Po Road. Since its establishment in 2005, the Group has held many meetings, implemented improvement measures at Wan Po Road and its vicinity, and conducted joint enforcement and prosecution operations.

Yau rubbishes fears on incinerator policy
The Standard
Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Building a new incinerator is an essential part of the government's strategy for solid waste management, a senior official said.

Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau Tang-wah was addressing legislators' concerns yesterday that the government might abandon the incinerator plan if chief executive candidate Leung Chun-ying wins on March 25.

Civic Party lawmaker Audrey Eu Yuet-mee noted at a special Finance Committee meeting scrutinizing the 2012 budget that Leung's election platform states that the SAR may do without incinerators. His rivals Henry Tang Ying-yen and Albert Ho Chun-yan thought otherwise, she said.

Yau insisted that the government will stick with the "holistic" strategy for solid waste reduction that includes an incinerator.

"Experience in Europe and other developed cities shows that, even with the implementation of various measures on waste reduction at source, there is still a substantial amount of waste that cannot be recovered which requires treatment," he said.

"In the context of Hong Kong, even if the target recovery rate of 55 percent is achieved, there will still be about 8,000 tonnes of [municipal solid waste] that cannot be recovered or recycled and which requires treatment on a daily basis," he added. This is why an incinerator is essential.

"We are developing a sludge treatment facility which employs state-of-the-art incineration technology," Yau said. "It is expected to be commissioned in 2013. By then, daily disposal of sludge at landfills will be reduced by nearly 1,000 tonnes.

" It will also demonstrate how modern technology can serve as an effective means in tackling the problem of [municipal solid waste]."

There are plans to increase the plant's capacity from 800 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes of waste a day.

Cut incinerator plan, urge waste fighters
The Standard
Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Concern groups say the need to build an incinerator may be eliminated if the government makes a greater effort at reducing and recycling waste.

Several environmental experts, green activists, resident committee members and those in trade associations yesterday met the panel of environmental affairs to air their views on the three-pronged "Reduce, Recycle and Proper Waste Management" plan.

It emphasizes the reduction of waste at source, the timely extension of landfills and incineration.

But activists say there is no need for the incinerator if the government gets citizens to reduce and recycle waste.

"We can do without an incinerator and relying on only landfills," Friends of the Earth deputy environmental affairs manager Michelle Au Wing- tsz said yesterday.

"Taiwan and South Korea have shown that reducing waste at its source is more more sustainable in the long-term than the expensive and environmentally damaging route of incineration."

In 2010, about 52percent of municipal solid waste was recycled and the rest went into landfills. But the waste recovery rate is much higher in Seoul and Taipei, standing at 68percent and 58percent respectively.

According to Designing Hong Kong head Paul Zimmerman, an alternative would be a system that encourages waste recycling.

"One example would be a producer-pays policy, enacted in many countries, where a customer returns the plastic or glass packaging of certain products to a recycling center and receives a nominal payment," Zimmerman said.

The government is seeking nearly HK$15 billion to fund construction of a giant incinerator on 16 hectares of reclaimed land at Shek Kwu Chau, an island south of Lantau.

This would open up an alternative waste disposal channel, complementing the use of landfills that handle about 13,800 tonnes of waste daily.

The territory's last incinerator was shut down in 1997 amid pollution concerns.

Environment Secretary Edward Yau Tang-wah said the reduction and recycling of waste is the priority of his department, but this method alone is insufficient.

"We need a a three-pronged approach that includes incineration," he said. "No country can solve its waste problems through just recovery."

Quickfire funding on waste projects urged
The Standard
Thursday, March 22, 2012

Environment officials plan to ask the Legislative Council to pass existing landfill extensions and incinerator projects in a bundle and complete funding approval in June before the handover to the new government.

Documents released yesterday by the Legislative Council panel on environmental affairs show the Environment Bureau will seek a quickfire approval of funding for extending three landfill sites.

According to the bureau and the Environment Protection Department, all waste treatment projects should be pursued as a package.

"Any delay of this package would seriously impact on the ability of Hong Kong to handle waste and maintain the environmental hygiene expected of an international city," the department said.

Subject to funding approval, the advanced waste treatment facilities will require seven years for reclamation, construction and commissioning.

On landfill extensions, they require a few years for site preparation work before commissioning.

The combined capital costs of a mega-incinerator capable of burning 3,000 tonnes of waste each day and extending landfills in Tseung Kwan O, Tuen Mun and North District will be just over HK$23 billion.

The government plans to build a giant incinerator on 16 hectares of reclaimed land at Shek Kwu Chau, an island south of Lantau.

Environmentalists say the super incinerator is not the best option for waste management and would pose a threat to marine life in the area. The project is one of the largest and most expensive of its kind in the world and will cost between HK$8 billion and HK$13 billion.

The incinerator would emit about 2,900 tonnes of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide and 217 tonnes of respirable suspended particles per year.

Earlier this month, Environment Secretary Edward Yau Tang-wah insisted that the government will stick with the "holistic" strategy for solid waste reduction that includes an incinerator.

In January, the department launched a three- month public consultation on proposals to cut the massive piles of waste produced by Hongkongers annually.

Each day they dump 19,000 tonnes of solid waste - with 9,100 tonnes going to landfills. About two-thirds is domestic waste.

The four proposed schemes to wage a war on waste include a quantity-based system, water proxy system, fixed-charge system and a part-charge system at the disposal site.

Under the proposals, fees may be charged according to the number or weight of rubbish bags; or be linked to water consumption; or charged at a fixed rate, with residents of the same district paying the same amount regardless of how much waste they produce; or there may be variable rates for waste producers in commerce and industry.

Results of the consultation, which ends on April 10, will be delivered to the Legislative Council for consideration.