XN000022-1979-06-07 — Page 7

THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1979

CHAI WAN REFUSE COMPOSTING PLANT OPENED

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MRS. GRACE HO, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, OPENED THE $47.5 MILLION CHAI WAN REFUSE COMPOSTING PLANT TODAY (THURSDAY).

ADDRESSING THE GATHERING AT THE OPENING CEREMONY, SHE

DESCRIBED THE PLANT AS ANOTHER ACHIEVEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HONG KONG'S WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES.

+EACH DAY HONG KONG PRODUCES WELL OVER 4,500 TONNES OF DOMESTIC, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL REFUSE OF WHICH THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT PROVIDES DISPOSAL FACILITY, MRS. HO SAID.

*THE TOTAL FIGURE FOR WASTE GENERATED IS INCREASING EACH YEAR AND THIS PLANT IS PART OF A CONTINUING WASTE DISPOSAL PROGRAMME TO ENSURE THERE IS AT ALL TIMES ADEQUATE CAPACITY FOR REFUSE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL.

MRS, HO, WHO IS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE (EPCOM), SAID THE EFFICIENT COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL OF REFUSE PRESENTED MANY PROBLEMS WHICH MUST BE OVERCOME.

SHE PRAISED THE EFFORTS OF ALL STAFF FROM THE URBAN SERVICES AND PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING THIS VITAL SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG.

+COMPOSTING IS A VERY WELL ESTABLISHED METHOD FOR DISPOSAL OF REFUSE. ALTHOUGH THIS IS THE FIRST PLANT OF ITS KIND TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN HONG KONG,+ MRS. HO SAID.

+ IN THIS PROCESS THE ORGANIC CONTENT IN THE WASTE IS CONVERTED BY FERMENTATION INTO A STABLE AND INOFFENSIVE PRODUCT WHICH CAN BE USED AS A COVER MATERIAL ON LANDFILL SITES AND ALSO HAS OTHER POTENTIAL USES, FOR EXAMPLE AS A SOIL CONDITIONER IN AGRICULTURE, AND LANDSCAPING.

*THE REJECTS IN THE COMPOSTING PROCESS SUCH AS FERROUS METALS, PAPER, GLASS, PLASTICS AND WOOD ARE SEPARATED AND REDUCED IN VOLUME WHICH IN TURN ASSIST IN MORE ECONOMICAL TRANSPORTATION AND CONSERVES EXTREMELY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS IN HONG KONG.+

FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSERVATION VIEWPOINT, MRS. HO SAID, COMPOSTING OFFERED AN ATTRACTIVE ALTERNATIVE TO OTHER PROCESSES

IN THAT IT DID NOT INVOLVE ANY EMISSIONS INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND THROUGH USE OF THE COMPOST PRODUCT, NATURAL ORGANIC MATERIALS WERE RETURNED TO THE GROUND.

SHE CONGRATULATED ALL THOSE WHO HAD BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE PLANT WHICH IS ONE OF THE LARGEST COMPOSTING PLANTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA.

EARLIER, THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS, MR. WILLIAM BELL, SAID THAT THE PLANT WOULD PROVIDE ADDITIONAL DISPOSAL FACILITIES FOR HONG KONG ISLAND OF UP TO 240 TONNES OF REFUSE PER DAY DURING THE FIRST STAGE, WITH AN ULTIMATE CAPACITY OF 480 TONNES PER DAY .

/THE OPENING