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South East New Territories Landfill opens

The opening of the South East New Territories (SENT) Landfill marks another important milestone in the implementation of Hong Kong's comprehensive waste disposal strategy, the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Tony Eason, said today (Monday).

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr Eason said Hong Kong's Waste Disposal Plan, which was devised and published in 1989, included the development of three large strategic landfills and a network of refuse transfer stations to handle and dispose of the large amount of waste produced by the community in a satisfactory

manner.

He noted that two of the strategic landfills, including the SENT Landfill, had been commissioned whilst three of the eight refuse transfer stations proposed were now in operation.

"With our new facilities, we have already been able to phase out older outdated facilities, such as the Lai Chi Kok and Kennedy Town Incinerators and landfills, which could not meet today's environmental standards.

In addition to building new waste handling and disposal infrastructure, Mr Eason said: "We must also remember the motto, 'prevention is better than cure'.

"In other words, our objective must also be to minimise the amount of waste we produce; to encourage the reuse of as much waste produced as possible; and lastly to dispose of waste, the production of which cannot be avoided, in an environmentally satisfactory manner," he said.

Mr Eason noted that the Environmental Protection Department had commissioned a waste reduction study to review the existing waste generation and collection patterns and to identify measures that would reduce waste production and increase reuse and recycling.

"Whatever measures we take to reduce waste, a key factor will be the level of awareness displayed by individual waste producers, in the course of either consumption or production, towards their contribution to both the problem and solution.

"Minor efforts, such as saying 'no' to the offer of a plastic bag or deciding not to

å wrap an already nicely packed box of chocolates in a piece of gift paper, will all count.