ENG-2009 — Page 349

The Environment 281

facilities handled 1.65 million tonnes of waste in 2009. About 75 per cent of Hong Kong's domestic waste is delivered via this network to landfills.

Chemical and Special Wastes

All chemical waste producers are required to pack, label and store their chemical wastes correctly before disposal at licensed treatment facilities. A trip ticket system tracks the movement of chemical waste from its origin to the final disposal point.

In 2009, a daily average of 107 tonnes of chemical waste, including MARPOL Annex I & II waste from ocean-going vessels, were treated at the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre on Tsing Yi Island. A Government contractor operates the treatment centre. Waste producers using its services are required to pay part of the

treatment cost.

Following the commissioning of the Low-level Radioactive Waste Storage Facility at Siu A Chau, most of the low-level radioactive waste generated in Hong Kong has been transferred to the facility for long-term storage. The facility is purpose-built to meet stringent international standards for the safe storage of low-level radioactive

waste.

Clinical Waste

To safeguard public health, the Government proposes to implement the Clinical Waste Control Scheme to ensure that clinical waste is handled and disposed of in an environmentally sound and safe manner. Under the control scheme, clinical waste will be sent to the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre for disposal by high-temperature incineration. The Government is installing additional facilities at the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre to receive and treat clinical waste and to upgrade the air pollution control system to meet the latest European Union emission standards.

Construction Waste

The construction industry generated 15.4 million tonnes of construction waste in 2009. Of that, about 93 per cent was inert and suitable for re-use. The policy has been to maximise the recovery and re-use of inert materials and minimise their disposal at landfills. The construction waste charging scheme introduced in December 2005 provides an economic incentive for reducing construction waste. The Government continues to deliver inert materials to the Mainland for re-use in reclamation projects there.

Large-scale Waste Treatment Facilities

Hong Kong has to deal with a large volume of non-recyclable waste and needs. new state-of-the-art, cost-effective facilities to treat such waste and reduce its volume. A multi-technology approach is needed so that wastes of different nature can be dealt with by the most suitable technology. The Government aims to commission the first phase of large-scale Integrated Waste Management Facilities (IWMF) that will adopt advanced incineration as its core technology in mid-2010. It will also develop Organic Waste Treatment Facilities (OWTF) to treat source-separated