ENG-1993 — Page 452

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THE ENVIRONMENT

The Waste Disposal Ordinance is complementary to the Water Pollution Control Ordinance in controlling industrial pollution. It provides the statutory framework for the management of all solid and semi-solid waste in Hong Kong.

The Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation was enforced in stages and full control was achieved over all chemical waste from industry and commerce in May, from the point of production to point of disposal. Chemical waste producers must register with the Environmental Protection Department. They must pack, label, and temporarily store their chemical waste in a safe and proper manner before delivery to licensed facilities for treatment and disposal. Only facilities capable of treating, recycling or disposing of chemical waste in an environmentally acceptable manner can obtain a licence. Licensing control also applies to the collection and transportation of chemical waste. The licence conditions require a sound operation employing fully-trained and skilful staff, and proper equipment and vehicles.

A system of consignment notes, called trip tickets, are used in the 'cradle to grave' control of chemical waste. A tailor-made computer information management system tracks waste movements through the trip ticket records. All responsible parties, including the waste producer, the waste collector and the reception manager of the waste disposal site, must supply accurate details of each consignment of waste.

Coinciding with the full enforcement of the Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation was the commissioning of the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre, which is run by a government contractor. The treatment centre is the main licensed disposal facility and collector for chemical waste generated in Hong Kong. Its operator provides a fleet of vehicles for the collection of waste from the waste producers.

To assist chemical waste producers to comply with the new regulations, guidebooks, leaflets and codes of practices were published, seminars organised, and a telephone hotline set up to explain the legislation.

In addition to liquid and solid wastes, many factories and commercial enterprises produce emissions to the air. The Environmental Protection Department operates air pollution controls under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance. Subsidiary regulations under the ordinance provide specific controls on furnaces and chimneys, dark smoke emissions, fuel composition and specified processes. Regulations have been proposed to ban open burning of waste materials and to reduce dust emissions from construction work.

The installation and alteration of furnaces, ovens and chimneys need prior approval from the department. This commonly affects industrial furnaces, restaurant stoves and chimneys serving emergency generators. The requirement for prior approval is to prevent emissions from new installations causing air pollution problems when they come into operation, and to ensure that district air quality objectives will not be violated. During 1993, the department processed 656 applications.

Nuisance and environmental problems caused by dark smoke emissions, which commonly result from poor maintenance or incorrect operation of fuel burners, arouse great public concern, especially when factories are near homes. The Air Pollution Control (Smoke) Regulations provide controls on dark smoke emission, limiting the darkness of smoke to Ringelmann shade number 1 which corresponds to 20 per cent opacity.

In July 1990, the Air Pollution Control (Fuel Restriction) Regulations banned fuel oils with a sulphur content over 0.5 per cent by weight or a viscosity over six centistokes at 40°C. The sulphur content of solid fuels is limited to one per cent by weight. Due to the