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The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, inspected several waste treatment facilities, namely the South East New Territories (SENT) Landfill, the Jordan Valley Park (a restored landfill) and the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre (CWTC) this afternoon (July 27) to learn more about the management and operation of these facilities. Mr Wong's site inspections today, aimed at getting a better understanding of Hong Kong's waste management situation, follow his visits to various district recycling facilities earlier this month. A waste management policy focusing on waste reduction at source is a core part of the Chief Executive's manifesto on the environment and also one of the key agenda items of the Environment Bureau in the future. Through activities including visits and site inspections, Mr Wong can further understand different aspects of waste management so as to formulate the Bureau's blueprint for the future.
Mr Wong first inspected the daily operation of the SENT Landfill and various measures taken to reduce the environmental impact of the landfill on surrounding areas.
The SENT Landfill covers a total area of about 100 hectares and has a current waste intake of about 5,000 tonnes per day. It was designed and constructed to a high standard as a secure containment facility incorporating composite impermeable liner systems and proper systems for the collection and treatment of landfill gas and leachate, ensuring no untreated discharges from the landfill will pollute the environment.
A series of odour management and control measures are being implemented at the SENT Landfill. These measures include reducing the size of the tipping area, covering tipping areas with a layer of soil and then a cement-based cover at the end of the daily waste reception process, covering the non-active tipping areas with temporary impermeable liners, setting up fixed deodorisers at the landfill boundary and mobile deodorisers at the tipping area, putting a mobile cover on the special waste trench, and installing additional landfill gas extraction pipes and mobile landfill gas flaring units.
In order to improve the cleanliness of refuse collection vehicles leaving the landfill and minimise the odour nuisance caused by such vehicles, the existing wheel washing facility has been upgraded into a full-body vehicle washing facility to ensure the entire body of every refuse collection vehicle is washed before leaving the landfill.
Mr Wong then visited Jordan Valley Park, which used to be the Jordan Valley Landfill. The landfill was converted into a park after restoration by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and was opened in August 2010 for public use. Mr Wong toured various facilities in the park, including the community garden, the horticultural education centre, the central lawn and the radio-controlled model car racing circuit. There are currently 13 closed and restored landfills which will be converted successively into recreational facilities such as recreation grounds, sports facilities and parks.
Mr Wong also visited the CWTC in Tsing Yi to see its chemical and clinical waste treatment facilities and learn about its operation in collecting and treating waste. The CWTC started operation in April 1993 with a design capacity for treating 100,000 tonnes of chemical waste per year. The main treatment processes of the CWTC are incineration, oil and water separation, and physical and chemical treatment.
Mr Wong was briefed by EPD staff on the stringent environmental monitoring facilities and procedures for monitoring the operation of the CWTC. In addition, the CWTC's incineration system is equipped with comprehensive emission control measures to ensure the operation of the facility and its stack emissions meet the legislative requirements and will not cause adverse impact on the environment and public health.
Earlier this month, Mr Wong went to see for himself several district waste recycling and treatment facilities to get a better understanding of the existing work in waste reduction and recycling. The facilities Mr Wong visited were the Tai Po Environmental Protection Association - Ways for Plastics Recycling, a food waste processor and a community garden in Tsz Ching Estate in Wong Tai Sin and the Kowloon Bay Material Transfer Centre.
Last Saturday (July 21), Mr Wong and the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, paid a visit to the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Foundation, an organisation which runs several waste collection points in Hong Kong for collecting recyclables for recycling, to learn about its waste recycling work. The personnel there shared their experiences in waste recycling and exchanged views with Mr Wong and Dr Ko on the promotion of environmental protection in the community.
The Government will continue its efforts in promoting waste reduction and recycling while working closely with different sectors to provide more waste recycling facilities in the community so as to sustain the waste management policy with waste reduction as the top priority.
Ends/Friday, July 27, 2012
Issued at HKT 20:13
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