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Following is a question by the Hon Leung Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (January 22) :

Question

Regarding the waste separation bins provided by the Government in public places, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the current number of such bins as well as the average daily quantity of each type of waste collected;

(b) how the figures in (a) above compare to the relevant figures 12 months ago; and

(c) whether it has assessed the effectiveness of such bins in facilitating the separate recovery of waste; if so, of the results of the assessment; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply

Madam President,

(a) & (b) At present, there are over 22 000 waste separation bins placed in public venues, schools and public/private housing estates, compared to some 19 500 in January 2002.

We estimate that in 2002, about 347 tonnes of waste paper, 12 tonnes of aluminium cans and 3.5 tonnes of plastic bottles were recovered from the bins each day. This represents an increase of 41 per cent, 173 per cent and 102 per cent respectively, compared with the average daily quantities of waste paper, aluminium cans and plastic bottles collected in 2001.

(c) The provision of waste separation bins aims to facilitate and educate the public to participate in waste separation. The continued rise in the amount of recyclables collected from the bins clearly demonstrates that there has been increasing public participation in waste recovery. In fact, the recyclables recovered from the bins in 2002 represents some three per cent reduction in the amount of municipal solid waste disposed of in landfills. This has also confirmed that the waste separation bins are effective in facilitating waste separation and reduction.

End/Wednesday, January 22, 2003

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