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The Environment
operated by a government contractor. Waste producers using its services are required to pay part of the treatment cost.
The Low-level Radioactive Waste Storage Facility at Siu A Chau is purpose-built to meet stringent international standards for the safe storage of low-level radioactive waste and most of such waste generated in Hong Kong has been transferred to the facility for long-term storage.
Clinical Waste
To safeguard public health, the government's Clinical Waste Control Scheme ensures that all clinical waste from healthcare practices is handled and disposed of in an environmentally sound and safe manner. Under the control scheme, clinical waste is collected by licensed waste collectors and sent to the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre (CWTC) for disposal by high- temperature incineration. The centre's air pollution control system meets the latest European Union emission standards. In 2013, the CWTC received on average 5.7 tonnes of clinical waste each day.
Construction Waste
The construction industry generated 28.7 million tonnes of construction waste in 2013. Of that, about 95 per cent was inert and suitable for re-use. To maximise the recovery and re-use of inert materials and minimise their disposal at landfills, a construction waste charging scheme provides an economic incentive for reducing construction waste. The government continues to deliver inert materials to the Mainland for re-use in reclamation projects there.
Large-scale Waste Treatment Facilities
To deal with the large volume of non-recyclable MSW, Hong Kong needs new state-of-the-art, cost-effective facilities to reduce the volume of waste that requires landfill disposal. A multi- technology approach is needed so that different types of waste can be dealt with by the most suitable technology. The first phase of the government's large-scale Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) will adopt advanced incineration as its core technology to reduce the waste volume by 90 per cent and to turn waste into energy, thereby reducing local greenhouse gas emission. The environmental impact assessment report for the IWMF and an Outline Zoning Plan have been completed. The preparatory work is ongoing for the first phase of IWMF at an artificial island near Shek Kwu Chau. In addition, Hong Kong also plans to develop Organic Waste Treatment Facilities (OWTF) that would adopt biological treatment technologies to turn source-separated organic waste such as food waste into biogas and compost. The first phase of the OWTF will be developed at Siu Ho Wan, North Lantau. However, even with such facilities, waste reduction at source is still necessary and the residual waste will still need to be disposed of at landfills.
The construction of a dedicated Sludge Treatment Facility at Tsang Tsui near Nim Wan, Tuen Mun is under way, with progressive commissioning started in late 2013. It will adopt advanced incineration technology to treat sewage sludge generated from sewage treatment works and has a treatment capacity of 2,000 tonnes per day. The facility will be equipped with a waste-to- energy installation and any surplus electricity generated from sludge incineration will be exported to the public power grid.
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