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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, I think that Mr. Man is obviously referring to the pilot scheme at Siu Hong Estate in Tuen Mun whereby the Government's Planning, Environment and Lands Branch initiated to have a separate collection for papers on Tuesdays and this has met with success and popularity. They are going to extend the scheme to other areas and this applies to the public housing estates where a large number of residents are staying in one place. In our urban area, there might be some difficulties because one multi-storey block would have smaller number of residents. What has been suggested by Mr. Man, I think is a good idea. I don't suppose it is a question, I think our Select Committee should study it as an agenda item whether the Urban Council should echo this worthwhile move or not.
2. MR. RONNIE M. C. WONG asked the following question (in Cantonese):---- Environmental protection is a big headache to Hong Kong. Though it does not fall within our jurisdiction, we can play a leading role in some areas of this work. At present, does the Council have any statistics on the annual consumption of plastic bags? Also, has the Council planned to gradually reduce the consumption of plastic bags, or even to eliminate their use altogether?
DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):--The question is about the plastic bags.
The Council uses about 700,000 plastic bags each year at an average cost of about $400 per 1000 bags. The plastic bags are used so as to reduce dust pollution, obnoxious odours and other nuisances to the public during the process of collection of refuse. They are used as liners to litter containers in streets, parks, playgrounds, beaches, etc. They are also used in cleansing operations.
The Council has no plan to discontinue the use of plastic bags for refuse collection and storage at the present moment. Plastic bags are used because they are light, clean, water-resistant, waterproof, economical, durable, and effective in reducing obnoxious odours and other nuisances, when compared with bags made of other materials.
Plastic bags used by the Council are made from polyethylene or polypropylene, hydrocarbon compounds which do not emit dangerous gases during incineration. The plastic bags mixed with refuse are compacted at refuse transfer stations and are subsequently crushed again by bulldozers at the landfills before being covered up by layers of earth. According to the Environmental Protection Department, although the plastic bags may not disintegrate, they are not known to give rise to any pollution problem when buried.
The use of bio-degradable plastic bags for refuse storage has also been considered by the Department and the Council and, in fact, our Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign Committee. However, there is so far no viable or acceptable bio-degradable plastic material in the market.
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In the absence of a more economical and operationally suitable alternative for the storage of the wet and highly organic refuse in Hong Kong, it is not possible to abandon the use of plastic bags in our daily refuse collection operations. The Department will continue to monitor the development of new products and assess the desirability of making changes when necessary.
(Mr. Mok Ying-fan arrived at 2:39 p.m.)
MR. RONNIE M. C. WONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, in Dr. Leung's reply, it is said that our plastic bags are quite durable. I would like to know if the Department will re-use the plastic bags or the plastic bags are used for once only?
DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, it will not be reused because it would involve a lot of labour to pull out the refuse and reuse the bags again, and we had to clean the bags for reuse. So the answer is that it will not be reused. The whole plastic bag of refuse will be sent by our refuse collection vehicles to the disposal sites. The meaning of durable here, I think, is very tough, and it will not easily break with other materials.
MR. RONNIE M. C. WONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, every year the Council uses approximately 700,000 plastic bags. I would like to know if Dr. Leung can freeze the consumption of plastic bags at this level? Has the Department abused the use of plastic bags?
DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG (in English):—The number of plastic bags is not determined by our policy. I think it depends on the amount of refuse we have to collect. We cannot fix the amount. In actual fact, if the amount is going to change, I think the number of plastic bags is going to increase as we have more refuse to collect.
DR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, the wet and odorous portion of the refuse is very small, but the agents who collect the refuse from the household and deliver to our RCPs mix them up. Could we tell the collectors to separate this wet and objectionable small amount of refuse from the bulk rather than mixing them up altogether? In that case, it might be able to reduce the amount of plastic bags used.
DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG (in English):—It is a good suggestion, but is very difficult to implement because the mixing up is involved at the very first stage of refuse collection. At the household level, everything is being mixed up when it leaves the door of a house, a flat, or a unit. I think the mixing up is already there at the very first stage. The sorting out is done in our refuse collection points. I realise that this sort of recycling or sorting out in our RCPs has generated a lot of environmental pollution in our own RCPs. It would be much better, of course, for the kerbside collection of refuse, whereby we can insist on certain days to only collect papers and on the other weekdays to only collect glasses, etc., as in overseas countries. But in Hong Kong, with all the multi-storey buildings with...
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