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The Environment
To prevent individual vehicles from producing excessive noise, all newly registered vehicles must comply with the internationally recognised noise standards.
Railway Noise
Various noise reduction programmes have been implemented by the railway operators since the early 1990s to address noise problems along railways, bringing relief to some 110,000 affected residents thus far. New railway projects are required to undergo environmental impact assessments to ensure their noise impact is properly addressed.
Aircraft Noise
The impact of aircraft noise on almost all residents in the vicinity of Hong Kong International Airport flight paths is within the planning standard. However, there is still concern about aircraft noise nuisance, especially during evenings and early mornings. The government continues to explore all practicable aircraft noise mitigating measures.
Construction Noise
Noise from general construction works between 7 pm and 7 am and on public holidays is controlled through construction noise permits. These restrict the use of equipment in accordance with strict criteria and ban noisy manual activities in built up areas. Percussive piling is prohibited at night and on public holidays and requires a permit during the daytime on any day that is not a public holiday. The government has phased out the use of noisy diesel, steam and pneumatic piling hammers. The law also requires hand-held percussive breakers and air compressors for construction to meet strict noise standards and to have 'green' noise emission labels.
The EPD has introduced a Quality Powered Mechanical Equipment system to promote the use of more environmentally friendly construction equipment and to facilitate the construction noise permit application process.
Noise from Industrial or Commercial Activities
Noise from industrial or commercial activities is controlled through the issuance of noise abatement notices. The EPD serves abatement notices requiring the owners or occupants of premises causing excessive noise to reduce it within a given period.
Waste Management
Waste Statistics
Over the past 30 years, Hong Kong's municipal solid waste (MSW) has increased by nearly 80 per cent while the population has grown by 36 per cent and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has quadrupled. Over the past five years from 2010 to 2014, the MSW disposed of at landfill annually was within the range of 3.28 to 3.57 million tonnes and the daily per capita disposal rate was between 1.27 and 1.35 kilogrammes. Food waste accounted for around 37 per cent of MSW on average over the past five years.
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