ENG-2000 — Page 346

THE ENVIRONMENT

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and 7 500 tonnes came from construction activities. The municipal waste production amounts to 1.4 kilograms for each person in Hong Kong every day.

Rapid development in Hong Kong over the past decade has contributed to a dramatic increase in the amount of construction and demolition (C&D) material for disposal. Some 37 600 tonnes of C&D material were generated every day during 2000. Since much of the C&D material could be re-used, contractors are encouraged to segregate and sort it at source. Inert C&D material suitable for reclamation purposes should be delivered to public filling areas or public fill barging points. Only waste unsuitable for reclamation purposes should be sent to the landfills.

Hong Kong has 13 old landfills, none of which had adequate environmental protection measures before closing. Landfill gas and liquid leachate, the natural decay products of organic waste, are continuously released and do great harm to the environment. For safety and environmental reasons, the Government is now restoring these landfills. Restoration of 12 of them is complete. The last landfill, the Pillar Point Valley landfill (PPVL), is intended to be restored by 2004. After full restoration, the sites may be used for community activities such as passive and active recreation, as well as recycling activities.

Refuse Transfer Stations

An important component of the Government's waste disposal plan is the network of refuse transfer stations. Waste collected in urban centres is delivered to these stations, where it is compacted into sealed containers for delivery to the three strategic landfills.

Six modern transfer stations and one set of Outlying Island Transfer Facilities handle a total of 5 100 tonnes of waste every day. This is mostly domestic waste, and represents more than 67 per cent of Hong Kong's total daily domestic waste. production. Three transfer stations, at Hong Kong Island East, West Kowloon and North Lantau, have extended their service to private waste collectors. Other stations are expected to follow later. By the end of 2001, a new refuse transfer station at the north-western New Territories will come into operation.

Chemical and Special Wastes

Comprehensive controls on the handling and disposal of chemical waste have been in place since 1993. The formerly widespread malpractice of dumping chemical waste into the sewers and surface waters has stopped. 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.

Each day, 171 tonnes of chemical waste including waste from sea-going vessels are treated at the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre (CWTC) on Tsing Yi Island. A government contractor operates the CWTC, the main treatment facility for chemical waste. Waste producers using CWTC services are required to pay part of the

treatment cost.

Energy Recovery

The Government is exploring the feasibility of developing energy recovery facilities for the disposal of municipal waste. In late 1999, the Government invited three