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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Wong-fat and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (October 16) :

Question

Regarding the recovery of batteries for recycling, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)whether it has estimated the quantity of batteries discarded each year; if so, of the quantity of each type of batteries (including mobile phone batteries, general household batteries and rechargeable batteries as well as vehicle batteries);

(b)whether it has assessed the impact of the discarded batteries on the environment of Hong Kong; if so, of the details;

(c)whether it will consider designating a government department to coordinate efforts in recovering batteries for recycling;

(d)whether it knows the effectiveness of the pilot scheme launched in April this year to collect used mobile phone batteries; and

(e)of its plans to encourage the recovery of other types of batteries for recycling?

Reply

Madam President,

We estimate that about 4,000 tonnes of batteries are disposed of at landfills each year. We do not have the breakdown of the types of batteries that are discarded.

The main environmental concerns of batteries are the corrosive nature of the acid contained in lead acid batteries and the possibility of leakage of toxic metals. Lead acid batteries are generated mainly from commercial and industrial sources. The acid therein is classified as chemical waste under the Waste Disposal Ordinance, and has to be properly collected and treated at the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre (CWTC) or other licensed disposal facilities.

As for other types of battery waste which are disposed of at the three landfills, they should not cause environmental problems since the landfills are lined with impermeable liners to prevent underground leakage of contaminated liquid, and such liquid is properly collected and treated within the landfills. The operation contracts for the landfills also require operators to maintain a stringent monitoring regime to ensure that there is no underground leakage of contaminated liquid. In addition, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) also undertakes independent environmental checking and regularly reviews reports from landfill operators.

The EPD is responsible for promoting and facilitating waste reduction and recycling programmes, including those for battery waste.

The pilot mobile phone battery recycling programme is a 12-month voluntary product responsibility scheme jointly organized by the telecommunication industry, mobile phone battery suppliers and EPD. Since the launch of the programme in April this year, about 1.4 tonnes of mobile phone batteries (about 10,000 pieces) have been collected for recycling by the industry. As the pilot programme has just started, it is too early to draw conclusion on its effectiveness. EPD is working with the industry to step up publicity to encourage public participation in the programme. Separately, this pilot scheme will provide us the necessary information and experience for planning similar industry-based product responsibility schemes in the future.

We plan to encourage further recovery of other types of batteries for recycling. EPD has initiated discussions with a number of battery manufacturers and importers on the feasibility of developing product responsibility schemes for battery waste.

End/Wednesday, October 16, 2002

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