*************************************************

    Following is the speech (English only) given by the Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works (Environment), Mr Keith Kwok, at the "Go Green with LTK - Transforming Hong Kong Towards Green Manufacturing" Forum today (March 10):

Mr Cua, Mr Tam, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

    I am delighted to be with you today to address this meaningful forum organised by LTK Industries Ltd.  

    Facing with increasing global pressures for improved environmental management, electrical and electronic manufacturing companies in the Asian region have reacted very differently.  Some companies perceive these growing requirements as potential threats that would increase their technical and financial burdens, and therefore harm their competitiveness.  Others recognise the global trend in environmental management and have been driven to adopt a corporate environmental policy to meet these requirements.  Yet there are some other companies which see these increasing pressures as opportunities and have taken positive steps to go further than simple compliance.  These companies realise that by improving their environmental performance, they can benefit from enhanced business competitiveness and marketing edge.  The added benefits are cost savings from improved quality; reduced environmental incidents; and the ability to respond to the growing supply chain pressure related to environmental management and green products.      

    LTK Industries Ltd is one of those companies which have taken the initiative to include environmental protection as their company policy and incorporate enhanced environmental features in their production processes.  They are the forerunners in the area of green manufacturing.  I understand that, as far back as in 1996, LTK already started implementing their own green programme.  Through these years of efforts, LTK has demonstrated to us their determination and success in leading the electrical and electronic sector in their commitment to the environment.  LTK has not only acquired ISO14001 certification for all its production plants, it has taken further initiatives based on the precautionary principle to eliminate toxic materials from their products.  It is therefore no surprise that it has been accorded with the Underwriters Laboratories' restricted Substances Compliance Solutions approval, well before the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive takes effect in July 2006.  In fact, I understand that LTK is not only the first wire and cable company in Hong Kong but also the first in the world to receive the approval.

    We share the vision of LTK.  The Government has developed and built facilities of high international standards to transfer, treat and dispose of waste.  Still Hong Kong is producing more waste than our landfills can cope with.  They will be full within the next six to ten years if waste loads continue to grow at the present rate.  We will need to take tough decisions and work on the principles that preventive action should be taken; that environmental damage should, as a priority, be rectified at source and that the polluter should pay.  In the past few years, we have introduced measures based on these principles.  These measures have yielded results as revealed by the increase in the percentage of municipal solid waste recovered from 36% to over 40% between 2002 and 2004.  We shall continue to double our efforts so that waste can be reduced, re-used, recovered, recycled or converted into energy before landfilling or incineration is considered.

    As we all know, the electrical and electronic manufacturing sector is one of the fastest growing industries in the world.  With technological innovation and market expansion, new applications of electrical and electronic equipment are increasing at a rapid pace.  While electrical and electronic equipment has become an inseparable part of our modern life, its rapid production and replacement generates large volumes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) that poses great environmental concern.  Studies carried out in the Western world indicate a rapid growth of WEEE and estimate that its volume is increasing at a rate of at least 3 to 5% per annum, much higher than that of municipal solid waste.

    The hazardous nature of WEEE also causes major environmental problems.  WEEE may contain significant quantities of hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).  If not properly managed, these materials can be harmful both to human health and the environment.  In view of the environmental problems related to the management of WEEE, major electrical and electronic manufacturing countries have introduced measures to control the design and production of these products with a view to promoting green manufacturing and reducing waste.  For example, Japan has introduced legislation to provide guiding principles for electrical and electronic product manufacturers to design their products with environmental features and performance.  In the United States, legislation on electrical and electronic products prescribes the environmental standards required in the production and stipulates disclosure of environmental performance information for specific types of products.  Of special significance are the two recent European Union Directives on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.  Both have been introduced to restrict the types of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment and require manufacturers to be responsible for the collection, recovery and recycling of used products respectively. The directives aim to prevent the generation of hazardous waste; to provide incentives to design electrical and electronic equipment in an environmentally efficient way and to limit the total quantity of waste going to final disposal.

    This brings us to the principle of product responsibility, which aims to require the parties along the product chain to share the responsibility for the life-cycle environmental impacts of the whole product system, ranging from upstream impacts from the production process to downstream impacts from the use and disposal of the products.  To provide incentives for producers to adopt environmentally friendly design for their products and reduce waste, we consider it necessary to introduce a mandatory product responsibility scheme (PRS) through legislative means, particularly in regard to WEEE that are in many cases hazardous and uneconomical to recycle.  Before considering implementing any mandatory product responsibility schemes, we will encourage the industries concerned to launch a voluntary scheme first to gain first-hand experience and build up recovery and recycling networks. We will consult the public and the industries concerned before implementing the scheme.

    With the support of the manufacturers and other stakeholders, a pilot recovery and recycling programme was launched for the end-of-life mobile phone battery in 2002.  It was the first recycling programme organised and funded by the industry in Hong Kong through a voluntary product responsibility scheme.  With the experience gained, we have been discussing with the industry to expand the scheme to all waste rechargeable batteries for implementation in the next few months. At present, 33 companies have agreed to participate in the scheme.  The batteries recovered will be delivered to overseas facilities for recycling.  The cost involved will be shared by the producers and importers.

    Electrical and electronic products contain a combination of many components including printed circuit boards, cables, plastics containing flame retardants, batteries, capacitors, resistors, sensors and relays, etc. One effective means of preventing the toxic substances in these components from polluting the environment is not to use them in the products.  Manufacturers should examine their production processes to see if they could be improved to minimise harmful substances.  Most primary batteries, for instance, no longer contain mercury.  By adopting such measures, we would be able to rectify our environmental problems and damage at source and allow safe disposal and enhance recycling of the WEEE.

    To promote green manufacturing and the use of green products, the Government will set an example by taking the lead in using green products, including environmentally friendly products and energy efficient equipment.  Since 2002, we have been working with the Government Logistics Department (GLD) to draw up environmentally responsible product specifications for government procurement items.  We will continue to lay down the environmental specifications for more products and pursue a more stringent green procurement policy.  Furthermore, we will explore the use of recycled materials in government works projects.  For instance, asphalt rubber made from waste tyres and fillers containing broken glass or recycled aggregates can be used to form road surfaces, drainage layers and road bases or non-structural concrete blocks.  We are now formulating a well-defined policy to encourage priority use of such products in order to enhance their marketability.  

    LTK has set a good example in eliminating hazardous and toxic substances in its products and also adopted environmentally friendly practices in its daily work.  I am sure it is a strong support of the Government in its efforts to promote energy saving - an important measure to save the earth from global warming.

    Improving our environment without the support of the industries and the public at large, the Government will not be able to win the battle.  In this regard, I would once again thank LTK and its top management for their full commitment to the environment and wish this forum a big success.

    Thank you.

Ends/Thursday, March 10, 2005

NNNN