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A forum on source separation of waste and award presentation ceremony was held in an enthusiastic atmosphere today (August 20) with over 400 representatives from different sectors of the community joining the event.
Delivering the opening speech at the event, the Permanent Secretary for the Environment/Director of Environmental Protection, Ms Anissa Wong, thanked the public for their active support and participation in waste recycling and recovery, which had helped to increase the domestic waste recovery rate from 14% in 2004 to 35% in 2009. Over the same period, domestic waste and municipal solid waste disposed of at landfills decreased by 15% and 3.8% respectively.
"Source separation of waste is becoming a general practice for more and more families in Hong Kong. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is working to enhance the implementation of the Source Separation of Waste Programme and will extend the programme to rural areas and old districts. Foreign domestic helpers play a major role in the source separation of waste in many local families. The EPD will put more effort into promoting waste separation and recovery to them," Ms Wong said.
Representatives from property management companies, housing estates and institutions shared their experiences in promoting source separation of waste and recovery and recycling of plastic resources at the forum cum award presentation ceremony today. Those with outstanding performance in source separation last year were also presented with awards and commendation certificates.
Over 1,500 housing estates have signed up to join the Source Separation of Waste Programme, covering three quarters of Hong Kong's population, since its launch in January 2005. In October 2007, the EPD extended the programme to cover industrial and commercial buildings and over 600 such buildings have joined the programme.
To sustain the development of the programme, the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) will continue to support housing estates and industrial and commercial buildings to install waste recovery facilities through allocated fund subsidies. The Environmental Campaign Committee will continue to give out free waste separation bins to residential, industrial and commercial buildings to help implement waste separation in the buildings, and to increase the overall waste recovery rate.
The forum on source separation of waste and award presentation ceremony was held jointly by the EPD, the Hong Kong Association of Property Management Companies and the Hong Kong Productivity Council. More details of the programme are available on the EPD's Hong Kong waste reduction website ( www.wastereduction.gov.hk ).
Ends/Friday, August 20, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:10
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