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vehicle, one more process is needed. The deterioration will be 70% times 70%. You see, we are in fact losing a lot of energy. Vehicles powered by electricity has the advantage of not causing pollution when driving, but in fact, the generation of power causes pollution.
Now I come back to the Urban Council. Some of our recent gestures are environmentally unfriendly. The monthly publication 'City News' has suddenly become one with colour pages. In its old form, the paper used can be easily recycled, but not in its new, colourful, glamorous form. Colouring agents are pollutants. I think we are developing too fast in certain areas. The incineration plant promoted by the Chairman is one example. I oppose it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
MR. CHOW KWOK-LEUNG (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, economic development and population growth are reasons for the drastic increase of waste in Hong Kong. So much so that our existing facilities and policies have become inadequate. In the Draft Paper issued by the Planning, Environment and Lands Branch in May, a number of methods targetted at coping with the aggravating problem have been listed out.
As stated, waste management should start from waste reduction and then go on to recycling and reuse. If we keep up efforts, in the end, the volume of waste waiting to be handled will decrease. So, avoiding generation of waste is the most viable way and the most difficult way to manage waste. Waste control in Hong Kong mainly centres on management and disposal because they are easier, quicker and cheaper too.
In the long run, I believe the mainstream philosophy of waste management should be waste reduction. For a long time, government did little to promote waste management policies. No determination to the job was shown. In fact, we have been lagging far behind in our waste management policies.
The Government has proposed the system of user or waste generator pays for waste management. This is nothing innovative. When it comes to short term waste disposal, in view of the drastic increase resulted from economic development, population growth and increase of domestic, construction and industrial waste, the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood supports the setting up of modernised incineration plants so as to relieve pressure on landfills and pollution to the environment. However, hi-tech incineration facilities cannot bring about cost effectiveness. On the issue of waste management, incineration plant is a bad option. The good option should be to change the public's approach to waste management. I am referring to the philosophy of environmental protection advocated by us all along.
The Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood finds the Government non-committing to waste and the environment so that awareness has not been built up among members of the public. We hope that the government will invest in promoting environmental awareness and greening
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