ENG-1998 — Page 469

THE ENVIRONMENT

Dumping at Sea Ordinance and the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance. Most of these laws have subsidiary regulations and other statutory provisions, such as technical memoranda, to give effect to the principal laws.

The government has adopted a system of environmental quality objectives as a general principle in its pollution control laws. The objectives are set at levels that will meet environmental goals, such as the protection of public health or the preservation of a natural ecosystem. The system aims to achieve the required environmental benefit in the most cost-effective and economically sustainable manner. Limits imposed on polluting emissions are no more stringent or costly than is necessary to achieve the conservation goal, which also makes the maximum safe use of the environment's natural capacity to absorb and recycle wastes.

Industrial and Commercial Activities

Industrial and commercial activities in Hong Kong have degraded the environment. The penalty is now being paid in the form of adverse ecological changes, a heavy but usually hidden financial burden on the community, and great risks to community health.

The government's pollution control strategy aims not to compromise industry and commerce, but to work in partnership with firms so that all may benefit from a better environment. Direct economic benefits can often be gained from activities such as recycling and the adoption of clean technology in manufacturing. These methods are better than pollution control techniques that have to be applied after a waste material has become a potential pollutant.

The government encourages industry and commerce to recognise the benefits of waste minimisation and pollution prevention and to work to achieve these with its own initiatives, statutory controls being provided to define standards and ensure compliance.

In 1998, the EPD's inspectors made 24 000 inspections of effluent-producing premises. They took more than 7 400 effluent samples and conducted 19 900 laboratory tests. About 340 offenders were prosecuted for failing to comply with the law. These enforcement figures represent mainly the control of the highest priority effluents, which are inspected four to eight times a year.

The Water Pollution Control Ordinance, which started with the first effective control zone in 1987, now covers all effluent discharges in Hong Kong waters.

Comprehensive controls on the handling and disposal of chemical waste began in May 1993 with the opening of the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre and full implementation of the Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation. Hong Kong has stopped the formerly widespread malpractice of dumping chemical waste into the sewers and surface waters. All chemical waste producers must properly pack, label and store their chemical wastes before disposal at proper treatment facilities. A trip ticket system, involving the waste producers, licensed collectors and licensed disposal points, tracks the movement of chemical waste from its origin to final disposal.

Many factories and commercial activities produce air-borne emissions. The EPD operates a range of controls under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance and its subsidiary regulations, including specific controls on furnaces and chimneys, dark

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