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The Environment

construction must meet strict noise standards and be issued with noise emission labels. Apart from these legal controls, the department also promotes quiet construction equipment and techniques to the construction industry.

Noise from Industrial or Commercial Activities

The department serves noise abatement notices requiring the owners or occupants of premises causing excessive noise from industrial or commercial activities to tone down within a given period.

Waste Management

Waste Statistics

Over the past five years, the municipal solid waste dumped at landfills has increased 9 per cent, while the mid-year population has grown 3 per cent. Between 2015 and 2019, municipal solid waste totalling 3.71 million to 4.17 million tonnes annually was dumped, translating into a daily per capita disposal rate of between 1.39kg and 1.53kg. The rate in 2019 was 1.47kg. About 60 per cent of 4.04 million tonnes dumped at landfills in 2019 was domestic waste, with the remainder being commercial and industrial waste. Food waste accounted for 30 per cent of the total municipal solid waste in 2019.

During the same five-year period, overall construction waste disposed of at landfills has dropped by 6 per cent. Overall construction waste of 1.44 million to 1.62 million tonnes was dumped annually.

Waste Reduction

In line with the Hong Kong Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-22, the government implements policies and legislation to reduce waste at source, undertakes targeted citywide waste reduction campaigns to raise awareness and encourage community participation, and enhances waste-related infrastructure.

At the heart of Hong Kong's overall waste reduction strategy, municipal solid waste charging will provide the necessary incentives to encourage the public to reduce waste at source and practise clean recycling, and thereby reduce overall waste disposal. The Legislative Council continued to scrutinise the bill in 2020.

From the 2019-20 financial year, the government provided additional recurrent funds for waste reduction and recycling. Once municipal solid waste charging is implemented, annual funding will increase to between $800 million and $1 billion.

The Food Waste and Yard Waste Plan for Hong Kong 2014-22 maps out a comprehensive strategy, targets, policies and action plans to manage food waste and yard waste. The government has four strategies to reduce the disposal of food waste in landfills by 40 per cent by 2022: reduction at source, reuse and donation, recyclable collection, and waste-to-energy conversion.

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