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The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, today (April 28) attended the green fun fair on Park Island, which featured the sale of second-hand goods. He also toured the glass bottle and food-waste recycling facilities in the residential estate to learn more about local efforts to encourage residents to participate in waste reduction at source and recycling.
Speaking at the fair, Mr Wong said Hong Kong is facing an imminent waste management problem and the amount of municipal solid waste per capita per day in Hong Kong is higher than that of other advanced cities in Asia. The three existing landfills will also be full between 2014 and 2019.
Noting that waste reduction at source is the main focus of the government's waste management policy, Mr Wong stressed the importance of joint efforts of all sectors in the community on this front so that waste can be turned into resources. He was glad to see residents' active participation at the fun fair in support of re-using second-hand goods, and looked forward to gaining the support of every member of the public.
Park Island adopted a green economic concept by using the money saved from its environmental initiatives to sustain the environmental work of the estate. The overall expenses of the residents on waste treatment can also be reduced.
Mr Wong then inspected the glass bottle recycling facilities on Park Island, including a glass bottle storage area and glass bottle recycling bins, during which he learned that the glass bottle recycling programme launched in the estate has received overwhelming response. Park Island has implemented a glass bottle recycling programme since 2011 and about a tonne of glass bottles is collected each month, which is higher than average for private residential estates. The glass bottles collected are used for the production of eco-pavers.
Mr Wong also looked at the estate's food waste recycling system while staff from the management office briefed him on the recycling operation. Park Island has been running food waste recycling and treatment since 2006 and participated in the "Food Waste Recycling Projects in Housing Estates" established under the Environment and Conservation Fund in 2011. To date, the estate has installed three food waste treatment facilities, which treat an average of 6.2 tonnes of food waste every month. As the recycling arrangement is hygienic and handy, the residents have responded enthusiastically towards the programme.
During his visit, Mr Wong exchanged views and experience on recycling with residents and was delighted to see their enthusiasm about reducing waste. He also encouraged the management team to continue promoting recycling programmes.
Mr Wong said that different sectors in the society should work together to share the responsibility of protecting the environment in addition to recycling glass bottles, food waste and other waste. The Government will continue to launch different recycling schemes to mobilise the entire community to go green with a view to jointly tackling Hong Kong's waste problem.
Ends/Sunday, April 28, 2013
Issued at HKT 20:02
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