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LCQ3: Disposal of television sets upon launch of digital broadcasting
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    Following is a question by the Hon Choy So-yuk and an oral reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (December 19):

Question:

     The two free-to-air domestic television broadcasters will launch digital terrestrial television ("DTT") on 31st of this month, and are constructing six transmission stations expeditiously in order that viewers in 75% of the districts in the territory can enjoy digital broadcasting before the Beijing Olympics in August next year. There have been comments expressing concerns that the launch of DTT will trigger off a trend of old analog television ("TV") sets being replaced, resulting in a large number of TV sets being discarded at landfills and creating an environmental disaster. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the anticipated number of analog TV sets which will be disposed of from now to the time of the Beijing Olympics, the amount of electronic waste generated as a result and, among such electronic waste, the quantity which will eventually be discarded at landfills;

(b) of the existing recovery channels for old TV sets, the daily capacity of such channels for handling TV sets, the existing channels through which old TV sets may be shipped to other places as second-hand TV sets, as well as the specific measures to increase recovery of old TV sets and to promote the proper disposal of TV sets; and

(c) whether it will expedite the legislative process for the Producer Responsibility Schemes to compel manufacturers to recover and dispose of electronic products properly; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) Television broadcasting will enter into a new era with the implementation of digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting at the end of this year. Whether this will lead to a massive disposal of television sets as waste is indeed a timely question. Firstly, DTT will not lead to the immediate termination of the existing analogue broadcasting. In fact, the Government plans to terminate analogue broadcasting only in 2012, and the actual timing would depend on public response, as well as market and technological development.

     According to the statistics of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), over 80% of the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (including television sets) would be recovered and about 20% would be disposed of at the landfills. Likewise, local and overseas experiences show that electrical and electronic equipment would usually be replaced gradually. For example, the launch of a new Windows software earlier this year and the introduction of liquid crystal display and plasma television sets a few years ago have not led to a massive replacement of computer equipment and television sets within a short period, nor have there been any noticeable increase in the landfill disposal of WEEE. In fact, the public does not need to replace their television sets immediately for receiving DTT signals provided that they have purchased a digital decoder (commonly known as set-top box) to support their existing analogue television sets. Taking into account the above experiences and factors, we expect that the public will replace their old television sets gradually as necessary in the future.

(b) The EPD has been actively promoting the recovery and recycling of WEEE. We have engaged a social service organisation to organise a Trial Recovery Programme for Electrical Appliances. We have also been organising an annual territory-wide WEEE Recycling Day since end 2005 to recover WEEE for donation to the needy or recycling. Over 83,000 used electrical appliances have been processed through these activities. Moreover, a considerable amount of used television sets and other electrical appliances are taken up by recyclers and re-sold either locally or in overseas markets as second-hand products. In view of the enthusiastic public response to the previous WEEE Recycling Days, we will organise the event again on January 19 and 20, 2008. We will enhance our publicity effort and encourage the public to actively participate in the event, in order to promote reuse and recycling and to enhance public awareness on environmental protection. I understand that, in addition to the organisations engaged by the Government, many voluntary organisations have similar recycling facilities.

(c) The Government will introduce the Product Eco-responsibility Bill into the Legislative Council shortly to provide the legal basis for introducing producer responsibility schemes for various products, including WEEE.  

     The introduction of producer responsibility schemes for certain products to reduce waste and promote recovery and recycling is an integral part of our strategy for the management of municipal solid waste. We are actively preparing the Bill for introduction into the Legislative Council with a view to its early implementation. The environmental levy on plastic shopping bags will be the first statutory producer responsibility scheme under the Bill. In addition, the Bill will cover other products, including electrical and electronic equipment. Meanwhile, the EPD has been in discussion with the suppliers concerned on how best to recover the relevant products for reuse and recycling purposes. In this connection, we have reached consensus with the computer trade to organise a territory-wide, trade-funded Computer Recycling Programme in January, 2008. We will, in light of the experience gained, continue to promote the introduction of voluntary producer responsibility schemes by the relevant trades while introducing the Bill in parallel. To progressively enhance recovery and recycling, we will amend the future Product Eco-responsibility Ordinance if necessary to provide for statutory producer responsibility schemes applicable for individual products.

Ends/Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:29

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