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    Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Leung and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (March 9):

Question:

    In this year's Policy Address, the Chief Executive states that government departments will adopt a green procurement policy to help create a market for environmentally friendly products, and will also make it a policy to implement mandatory product responsibility schemes to ensure the recovery and recycling of the products concerned.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the respective amounts of paper used by government departments in correspondence and publications, as well as the respective numbers of ink cartridges consumed by their printers and facsimile machines and the expenses involved in each of the past three years, and how these figures compare to those in the previous year;

(b) of the respective percentages of recycled products in the above paper and ink cartridges that were consumed;

(c) of the percentage of recycled products being procured at present in the total procurements of government departments, and the rates of increase/decrease over the past three years;

(d) whether government departments have been implementing recycling programmes for different materials; if so, of the effectiveness of these programmes; and

(e) apart from implementing the green procurement policy in government departments, whether the authorities have other practical programmes to support the market for environmentally friendly products, such as the implementation of the Green Label Programme or the provision of economic incentives, to encourage the public to use more environmentally friendly products?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) The amount of paper procured by the Government Logistics Department (GLD) for consumption (including publications) by all government departments for purposes in 2002 to 2004 are as follows -

 

Year	Metric Tonnes	Year-on-year change	Expenditure (HK$ Million)
******	***********	***********	***************
2002	11,559	- 7.0%	72.5
2003	11,525	- 0.3%	72.3
2004	11,179	- 3.0%	71.4

    According to GLD, the majority of the toner/ink cartridges are procured by respective government departments under delegated authority.  As Government departments usually record the procurement of ink/toner cartridges as part of the total procurement of all stationery items, statistics on the number of cartridges consumed by all government departments in the past few years are not available.  

(b) The amount of recycled paper as a percentage of the total paper procured by GLD consumed by all government departments is as follows :

As a percentage of total paper
Year	Metric Tonnes	Year-on-year change	consumption
****	***********	************	*************
2002	1,449	- 16.5%	12.5%
2003	1,697	+ 17.1%	14.7%
2004	1,804	+ 6.3%	16.1%

(c) As Government departments do not record the procurement of recycled products separately, statistics on percentage of recycled products are not available.  GLD would however procure some of the products for government departments, including 17 types of recycled products such as paper, pencil, toilet paper, lubricants, etc.  The value of the procurement in the last three years are as follows :

 

	Total value of 17 types of recycled products (Million $)	Total value of non-recycled products procured that have recycled products as alternatives (Million $))	Total value (Million $)	Share of recycled products
*****	*********	************	**********	*********
2002	34.3	51.8	86.1	40%
2003	19.8	-*	19.8	100%
2004	54.1	45.4	99.5	54%
Total	108.2	97.2	205.4	53%

Note * : Since some of the bulk purchasing contracts are concluded every two years, GLD did not procure the non-recycled products with the 17 recycled alternatives in 2003.

(d) Departments implement different recycling programmes to recover materials such as paper, plastic bottles, used CDs etc. in their respective offices.  Since the implementation of the Green Managers Scheme in 1994, each department has to appoint a Green Manager from its department to implement green housekeeping in Government offices.  Every year, Green Managers are required to submit a green management report to Environment, Transport and Works Bureau on recycling programmes that have been conducted during the year among other initiatives such as waste minimisation and energy conservation.  The reports showed that departments actively engaged in waste minimisation, reuse and recycling.

(e) GLD has adopted most of the specifications recommended in the Consultancy Study on Environmentally Responsible Product Specifications for Government Procurement Items commissioned by the Environmental Protection Department in 2000 for acquisition of goods. All departments are advised to adopt a green procurement policy and to use recycled products as much as possible.  By taking the lead in green procurement, we will set an example for the community, which will result in an increased demand and supply of greener products with improved recyclability, reduced packaging, greater durability and higher recycled contents.

    Some recycled products are primarily developed for use in public works e.g. asphalt rubber produced from waste tyres for construction of road surface, fill materials containing crushed glass or recycled aggregates for use in drainage layer, road base or non-structural concrete blocks.  We are establishing a clear Government policy to pursue the use of these products with priority, so as to increase the market potential for these products.

    In order to encourage green consumption and use of green products, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department  has been implementing a voluntary "Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme" to promote the use of more energy efficient electrical appliances since 1995.  The Scheme now covers sixteen types of household appliances and office equipment.  While most models of refrigerators and washing machines available in the market have applied for energy labels, it is not the case for other electrical appliances.  The government intends to make the acquisition and display of energy efficiency labels a mandatory requirement.  Through the consumer's preference towards models with high energy efficiency, we hope that those with poor efficiency will be gradually eliminated by market force.  This can also encourage the trade to design and introduce products with higher energy efficiency.  The Government will consult the public and traders on the proposed plan later in the year.

    The Government has also been monitoring the development of eco-labels in Hong Kong and overseas.  Eco-labels are at present put on products by the manufacturers or importers on a voluntary basis with the approval of foreign or local authorities.  The Green Council has launched a voluntary Green Label Scheme under which manufacturers or importers can apply for the Green Label for their products.

Ends/Wednesday, March 9, 2005

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