140
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
I subscribe to the spirit of the motion moved by Mr. Chan Choi-hi today. Data collected from the survey on the types, contents and volume of waste and the subsequent questionnaire survey on public attitude towards waste recovery is necessary and very important too. However, what is crucial but neglected in the motion is that when this Council collects and analyses the data collected, we should set out our aims, the manpower and resources we are ready to throw in as well as a work schedule. Only by doing so can we show our determination in this regard.
In addition, I think that for the Draft Paper to achieve its objectives, this Council should actively cooperate with relevant bodies like the Housing Department or management offices of large estates. On how to educate the public, we should join with the Education Department and Environmental Protection Department in carrying out relevant activities. With these remarks, I register support for the motion.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I think there is need to analyse waste, not only to analyse the types, but also their economic values. I wonder if we can find markets for the reuse of waste too. If waste recovered has no economic value, no market for reuse and no one is willing to recover it, sorted waste remains waste. There will be additional burden on us to handle such waste. Mr. Chairman, I know that some schools did promote waste paper recovery but then as no one was interested in recovery, they had to handle them in the end. That was a burden and those schools had to pay to get people to handle the waste paper.
The Department has always collected refuse (I don't mean waste). Without the prior approval of the Department, waste taken to refuse stations will not be accepted. If one wants to set waste down at refuse stations, one has to pay extra. In the case of the Housing Department, it has to hire staff and pay for them to handle the waste. At the end of each lunar year, the Council provides special waste collection points to serve the community free of charge. If we analyse the waste but fail to find outlets for the waste collected, it becomes another kind of waste and the exercise simply adds on to our social cost.
Mr. Chairman, I think the Environmental Protection Department should do more. It should set up waste storage stations and go about collecting waste. It should also find markets for waste recovery and give waste operators assistance in the form of money or space for storage.
Mr. Chairman, I fully support the part on publicity and education. In fact, the public's environmental awareness is very thin. People find it troublesome to sort waste. They feel that putting waste in a bag to throw away is convenient and they do not want to go through the trouble of sorting and handling different types of waste. Environmental awareness is thin in our community, schools and homes. We must build up an atmosphere and win people over. People must be taught to make environmental protection a habit. I think
Page 137 of 654
140
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
I subscribe to the spirit of the motion moved by Mr. Chan Choi-hi today. Data collected from the survey on the types, contents and volume of waste and the subequent questionnaire survey on public attitude towards waste recovery is necessary and very important too. However, what is crucial but neglected in the motion is that when this Council collects and analyses the data collected, we should set out our aims, the manpower and resources we are ready to throw in as well as a work schedule. Only by doing so can we show our determination in this regard.
In addition, I think that for the Draft Paper to achieve its objectives, this Council should actively cooperate with relevant bodies like the Housing Department or management offices of large estates. On how to educate the public, we should join with the Education Department and Environmental Protection Department in carrying out relevant activities. With these remarks, I register support for the motion.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I think there is need to analyse waste, not only to analyse the types, but also their economic values. I wonder if we can find markets for the reuse of waste too. If waste recovered has no economic value, no market for reuse and no one is willing to recover it, sorted waste remains waste. There will be additional burden on us to handle such waste. Mr. Chairman, I know that some schools did promote waste paper recovery but then as no one was interested in recovery, they had to handle them in the end. That was a burden and those schools had to pay to get people to handle the waste paper.
The Department has always collected refuse (I don't mean waste). Without the prior approval of the Department, waste taken to refuse stations will not be accepted. If one wants to set waste down at refuse stations, one has to pay extra. In the case of the Housing Department, it has to hire staff and pay for them to handle the waste. At the end of each lunar year, the Council provides special waste collection points to serve the community free of charge. If we analyse the waste but fail to find outlets for the waste collected, it becomes another kind of waste and the exercise simply adds on to our social cost.
Mr. Chairman, I think the Environmental Protection Department should do more. It should set up waste storage stations and go about collecting waste. It should also find markets for waste recovery and give waste operators assistance in the form of money or space for storage.
Mr. Chairman, I fully support the part on publicity and education. In fact, the public's environmental awareness is very thin. People find it troublesome to sort waste. They feel that putting waste in a bag to throw away is convenient and they do not want to go through the trouble of sorting and handling different types of waste. Environmental awareness is thin in our community, schools and homes. We must build up an atmosphere and win people over. People must be taught to make environmental protection a habit. I think
Page 137 of 654
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