XN000022-1975-12-14 — Page 1

PRH 7

大

HK 香港政府

GIS 新聞處

DAILY INFORMATION BULLETIN

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1975

COMPOSTING PLANT AT CHAI WAN: FIRST STEP TAKEN

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THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT IS INVITING PRELIMINARY APPLICATIONS FROM CONTRACTORS AND EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS INTERESTED IN SETTING UP A MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR PULVERISING AND COMPOSTING PLANT AT CHAI 'WAN.

THE PROPOSED PLANT, THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN HONG KONG WILL PROVIDE AN ECONOMICAL AND +CLEAN+ SYSTEM FOR DISPOSING OF THE INCREASING VOLUME OF REFUSE GENERATED BY THE GROWTH OF HONG KONG.

PRE-QUALIFICATION TENDERS ARE BEING CALLED ON AN INTERNATIONAL BASIS AND PROSPECTIVE TENDERERS ARE BEING ASKED TO SUBMIT DETAILED PROPOSALS ON THE DESIGN, SUPPLY AND INSTALLATION OF THE PLANT.

MR. HARRY STUBBS, CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE P.W.D.'s ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL OFFICE, SAID TODAY FORMAL TENDERS FOR THE PLANT WOULD BE CALLED IN MAY NEXT YEAR.

+CONSTRUCTION WORK AND FABRICATION OF EQUIPMENT IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN BY EARLY 1977 AND THE WHOLE PLANT SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY MID-1978,+ HE SAID.

MR. STUBBS SAID THE PLANT WOULD INITIALLY BE CAPABLE OF DISPOSING OF 240 TONNES OF MIXED URBAN REFUSE PER DAY. +BUT EVENTUALLY WE HOPE TO DOUBLE ITS CAPACITY TO HANDLE ABOUT 480 TONNES OF RUBBISH DAILY, HE ADDED.

COMMENTING ON THE PLANT, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE P.W.D.'S CONSULTANTS MANAGEMENT DIVISION, SAID ONE BIG ADVANTAGE OF THE COMPOSTING PROCESS WHICH BASICALLY INVOLVES THE BREAKING DOWN AND TREATMENT OF SOLID WASTES INTO HYGIENICALLY SAFE, INERT AND INOFFENSIVE MATERIAL WAS THAT IT DID NOT CAUSE ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION.

+ANOTHER IMPORTANT ADVANTAGE IS THAT THE SOLID WASTE IS REDUCED TO ONE-FOURTH OF ITS ORIGINAL VOLUME AND REDUCED TO TWO-THIRDS ITS ORIGINAL WEIGHT, THEREBY FACILITATING TRANSPORT- ATION TO LANDFILL AREAS,+ HE SAID.

+MOREOVER, THE COMPOSTED WASTE CAN BE COLLECTED AND STORED AND ALLOWED TO MATURE FOR A FEW DAYS AND THEN USED AS INTERMEDIATE AND FINAL COVER. MATERIAL IN CONTROLLED TIPPING OPERATIONS WHERE AVAILABILITY OF SUITABLE COVER MATERIAL MAY BE LIMITED.+

THE SPOKESMAN SAID THERE WAS ALSO A POSSIBILITY THAT THE MATURED COMPOST MIXED WITH TOPSOIL COULD BE USED AS A FERTILISER FOR TURFING AND GRASSING.

Issued by Government Information Services, Beaconsfield House, Hong Kong. Tel: 5-233191