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MR. TONG KAM-BIU (in Chinese):—Mr. chairman, we have carried out a study. I understand that certain plastic bags will give out obnoxious smell or even hazardous smell if they are burnt. However, many other countries are still making use of plastic bags for refuse disposal. It is probably due to the fact that the study on plastic bags may be very expensive and does not give any satisfactory result. Anyway the Department will continue to study this matter further.
MR. SULKE (in English):—I am glad to hear that the Department will study the matter further. There are no simple answers to my friend's question and in other countries the stuff gets buried and it does not get burnt and I would be very grateful (and I know this is not a question Mr. Chairman) if the Department were very careful as to what kind of plastic is used.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—I think Mr. TONG Kam-biu can give us the assurance.
2. MR. LEE CHIK-YUET asked the following question (in Cantonese):—I have received complaints from residents of various areas that refuse collection vehicles, when carrying refuse dampened with foul water, often splash the water all over the road surface especially when turning around corners. When the water dries up, that particular road surface would give out foul smell which is so offensive that passers-by have to cover their noses. The worst situation exists in the road curve in front of the Lai Chi Kok incinerator. I would like to know whether the Urban Services Department is aware of the situation and what improvements can be made?
MR. TONG KAM-BIU, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE replied as follows (in Cantonese):—This question concerns the dropping of dirty water from moving refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) in roads, thereby causing an environmental nuisance.
Unlike many other cities, refuse in Hong Kong has a high water content, particularly that collected from markets and hawker areas. According to the Department's existing practice, all refuse collected by RCVs is first compressed by compaction mechanisms inside the RCVs in order to maximise their holding capacities and to facilitate transportation. All RCVs presently in use by the department are fitted with compaction mechanisms. To reduce the problem of foul water build-up arising from this, all RCVs bought for use in Hong Kong have the refuse hoppers water-proofed to a level substantially higher than is normal in other developed territories. Wherever possible additional sump-tanks are built into the hoppers to collect foul water automatically. When picking up refuse from an off-street RCP, drivers of the vehicles concerned are required to drain off the sump-tanks which collect the foul water which has oozed out from the loaded refuse, before driving off. Furthermore, all drivers of such vehicles have also been instructed to exercise care when negotiating sharp corners or driving uphill or downhill to avoid the spillage of foul water during transportation.
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Despite these precautions, it sometimes occurs that foul water still drips from moving RCVs for two reasons:
(a) the capacity of the sump-tanks is not large enough to hold all drippings during transit where a vehicle has had to pick up a load of refuse which is particularly heavily organic, and from a route with few opportunities to drain off the sump-tank;
(b) some RCVs, because of design problems, cannot be fitted with sump-tanks, or only with very small ones.
To solve these problems, the Department has, since 1986, made arrangements to enlarge the capacities of the sump-tanks wherever possible. Of the 263 RCVs presently maintained by the department, 91 have had their sump-tanks enlarged. With the other 172 vehicles, it is not possible to fit them with large sump-tanks or, in a few cases, with any sump-tanks at all. Whilst every effort is being made by the Department to replace these 172 vehicles with new ones having large sump-tanks, it will be at least some years before the whole RCV fleet can be fitted with adequate sump-tanks, for financial reasons.
Another measure the department adopts to abate the environmental nuisance caused by foul water dripping from RCVs is to hose down the approach roads to refuse disposal sites by street washing vehicles. At present, this is done daily. The approach roads to the Lai Chi Kok Incinerator are included in this programme. The Department will inspect the Lai Chi Kok Incinerator approach roads to see if a more intensive street-washing programme is required there.
MR. LEE CHIK-YUET (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I have a question for Mr. TONG. In paragraph 3(a) of Mr. TONG's reply he said that certain routes are banned for spillage. Does it mean that spillage is allowed in other roads or other routes?
MR. TONG KAM-BIU (in Cantonese):—As far as I understand, there is no drainage system at certain sections of the street. When the compaction activities are carried out, the water from the refuse will have to be drained. There are drainage systems on some streets but not on others. In case when there is no drainage system, we cannot simply drain the water through the drainage system and that is exactly what I meant.
MR. KWAN LIM-HO (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, since Mr. Tong has confirmed that collection of refuse to incinerators will cause spillage problem and we may have to use street washing vehicles to hose down the streets, will it lead to additional financial burden to the Urban Council and a waste of resources. Would it be a better way to modify the RCVs and I wonder if Mr. TONG has considered this.
MR. TONG KAM-BIU (in Cantonese):—Mr. KWAN is certainly right to point out that modifying the RCVs is the best way to solve the problem. However, at present, because of various reasons, it is not possible for us to enlarge some tanks or to modify each and every one of the RCV. It takes time to do all these.