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Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, in the Legislative Council meeting today (June 27):
Question:
Phase I of the EcoPark in Tuen Mun was originally scheduled for commissioning at the end of last year, but it was not until May this year that the Environmental Protection Department awarded three tenancy contracts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the types of business to be operated by the aforesaid tenants, the number of people they will employ, and the anticipated time when they will commence operation;
(b) of the anticipated time when all the lots in Phases I and II of the EcoPark will be leased out and put to use, the percentage of the final area to be rented out in the total area, the ultimate number of tenants, and the number of people they will employ; and
(c) whether it will adopt measures to increase the number of jobs to be created by the EcoPark, including providing lots of smaller sizes to enable smaller recyclers to operate at the EcoPark and introducing "number of jobs to be provided" as one of the conditions for awarding tenancy contracts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
Developing the EcoPark in Tuen Mun Area 38 is a major Government initiative for promoting circular economy. Our objective is to provide long-term land for the recycling and environmental industries at affordable rents and encourage them to introduce advanced technologies for recycling locally generated recyclables into value-added products. These products will re-enter the consumption chain and promote the development of Hong Kong's circular economy. I would like to reply to the three parts of the question as follows:
(a) Tenders for the tenancy agreements of the first batch of three lots in Phase I of the EcoPark were invited at the end of 2006 according to the target set in the 2006-07 Policy Agenda. The tenancy agreements were awarded in April this year and the successful bidders will recycle locally collected waste plastics (such as PET and HDPE), waste tyres and waste wood respectively into value-added products in the EcoPark. It is expected that the tenants will commence operation in next year and will employ over one hundred skilled and non-skilled workers.
(b) Tenancies of the remaining three lots in Phase I of the EcoPark will be invited by open tender in the coming two months and the tenancy agreements will be awarded within this year. It is expected that the tenants will commence operation between late 2008 and early 2009. Construction of Phase II of the EcoPark will commence in 2008. It is anticipated that tenders for the Phase II lots will be invited in 2009 and the tenants will gradually commence operation from 2010. Upon full completion, the entire EcoPark will provide a total of 14 hectares of rentable land (i.e. 70% of the total area of the EcoPark), accommodate about 20 tenants and offer some 750 new jobs.
(c) As I mentioned earlier, the objective of developing the EcoPark is to encourage the recycling and environmental industries to introduce advanced technologies to recycle locally generated recyclables so as to promote a circular economy. In order to achieve that objective, we must ensure that the lots provided in the EcoPark are of suitable sizes to enable tenants to operate in a cost-effective manner. From the Expressions of Interest exercise conducted last year, we observed that most recyclers interested in starting their recycling business in the EcoPark would require lot size ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 square metre. Taking the above factors into account, we offered one 9 500 square metre lot and two 5 000 square metre lots for the first batch lots of the EcoPark Phase I to meet the needs of recycling operations of different types and scale.
As the objective of setting up the EcoPark is to promote a circular economy in Hong Kong, we consider factors such as the tenderers' experience, the degree of value-addition and outlets of their products, and the technologies to be introduced, etc. in selecting tenants to ensure that they can achieve our waste management objectives. For each lot, we have also prescribed minimum capital investment and minimum throughput of materials to be processed as part of the lease conditions to ensure that the scale of operation of the recycling and environmental industries in the EcoPark will reach a certain level. Therefore, we do not consider it necessary to introduce "number of jobs to be provided" as one of the criteria for evaluation of tenders.
In fact, the recycling and environmental industries and the waste recovery industry are complementary businesses. The progressive establishment of the recycling industries in the EcoPark will provide a reliable and stable outlet for locally collected recyclables. This in turn will bring business opportunities for the local waste recovery industry and encourage operators to employ more staff to cope with the increasing demand for recyclables.
Ends/Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:35
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