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Following is a question by the Hon Kenneth Leung and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, in the Legislative Council today (October 9):
Question:
In connection with the paper consumption by the offices of the Chief Secretary for Administration, the Financial Secretary and the Secretary for Justice (offices of the Secretaries), policy bureaux and the departments under their purview, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective total weight of publications, government forms, paper stationery and other printed matters printed by the Printing Division of the Government Logistics Department (GLD) for various government departments each year between 2007 and 2012, with a breakdown by the type of paper products;
(b) whether the printed matters of GLD are all currently printed with environment-friendly paper (including paper containing recovered fibre contents and wood-pulp from renewable forests); if they are, of the time when the relevant practice started; of the respective percentages by weight of the two aforesaid types of recycled paper in the printing paper used by GLD each year between 2008 and 2012;
(c) of the existing standards adopted by the Government for procuring environment-friendly paper for printing purpose; whether such standards had been updated between 2008 and 2012; of the percentage of paper containing recovered fibre and post-consumer fibre among the recycled paper procured for printing purpose each year in that period;
(d) of the respective quantities of the paper consumed, percentages of recycled paper used and quantities of paper recycled each year by the offices of the Secretaries, policy bureaux and the departments under their purview between 2008 and 2012, with a breakdown by the type of paper products;
(e) whether the offices of the Secretaries, policy bureaux and the departments under their purview had procured any paper products with local recycled paper as the raw material between 2008 and 2012; if they had, of the type, usage and quantity of the paper products procured; if not, the reasons for that;
(f) whether it has considered ordering the offices of the Secretaries, policy bureaux and the departments under their purview to use recycled paper with recovered fibre content across the board whenever practicable for the purposes of office printing, photocopying and printing publications; if it has, of the implementation schedule; if not, the reasons for that; and
(g) whether the offices of the Secretaries, policy bureaux and the departments under their purview have formulated procedures and guidelines to reduce the quantity of paper consumed and enhance separate recycling of waste paper; of the procedure to ensure proper disposal of waste paper containing confidential information, and that waste paper collected is genuinely recycled and not dumped at landfills; of the amount of waste paper generated and sent to landfills for disposal by various policy bureaux and the departments under their purview between 2008 and 2012?
Reply:
President,
In general, policy bureaux and departments (B/Ds) have their publications and forms printed by the Government Logistics Department (GLD). They also procure paper for their offices through the GLD. Departments may make direct purchase of stores, except that if such stores and items are held in unallocated stock by the GLD or already covered by a bulk contract arranged by the GLD.
(a) Between 2007 and 2012, the total weight of printing paper used by the GLD for printing for various departments each year is provided in the annex.
The GLD keeps no breakdown of printed matters by the type of paper products printed for various departments.
(b) Since 1998, the GLD has procured paper made of wood-pulp from renewable forests for general use. The respective percentages by weight of recycled paper and paper made of wood-pulp from renewable forests in the printing paper used by GLD each year between 2008 and 2012 are provided in the annex.
A small quantity of printed matters, including maps and stickers, should be printed on synthetic or plastic-lined paper with good durability. These types of paper generally do not contain recycled material or wood-pulp from renewable forests.
(c) The Government has been taking the lead in promoting green procurement, as well as setting example for the business sector to follow. Green specifications were developed for items commonly used by departments (including papers for office use) for B/Ds' consideration when purchasing these items. We commissioned a new consultancy study in February 2013 to expand the Government's green procurement list and to update the current green specifications of existing products.
As for the recycled paper currently procured for printing purpose by the GLD, it contains at least 60% recovered fibre or 30% post-consumer fibre. The GLD updated such standards in 2007 from containing at least 50% recovered fibre or 20% post-consumer fibre of to the existing standards. In addition, two requirements regarding a higher proportion of recycled material content have been included in the procurement assessment item since 2010 and 2011 respectively so as to encourage suppliers to supply papers with a high recycled paper content, i.e. recycled paper containing at least 80% recovered fibre or 40% post-consumer fibre, as well as recycled paper containing 100% recovered fibre or post-consumer fibre.
(d) The Government has all along encouraged departments to use environment-friendly paper as far as possible and where economically rational for daily printing and publishing purposes. Between 2008 and 2012, the percentages of recycled paper and paper made of wood-pulp from renewable forests used by various departments in the total quantities of paper used are provided in the annex.
The total weight of paper used by various departments only include papers procured for the printed matters printed by the GLD for various departments and the A3 and A4 papers procured by the GLD for the use of various departments. The GLD keeps no records of the total quantities of paper used by individual departments or other detailed breakdowns.
In the past five years, the weight of waste paper recovered from joint-user government office buildings managed by the Government Property Agency (GPA) is provided in the annex.
(e) We have no relevant data on the procurement of paper products made of locally recovered waste paper. It is noteworthy that Hong Kong is a Party to the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO GPA). The WTO GPA ensures that all companies, foreign or local, compete on a level playing field. It also prohibits Parties from including "local content" requirement in procurement. The HKSAR Government has to fulfill its obligations under the WTO GPA.
(f) & (g) The Government implements a waste management strategy with waste reduction as the top priority. B/Ds have been committed to reducing waste. The Government has established internal guidelines requiring all B/Ds to enhance the implementation of green practices and waste avoidance measures. Regarding paper saving, waste reduction and recycling, B/Ds should aim to reduce paper consumption in the first place. For example, they can make good use of electronic means to receive documents, thus avoiding unnecessary paper consumption. B/Ds should also generate less paper waste by putting in measures to recycle paper products in their offices. Examples are printing on both sides of paper, reusing paper, file covers and envelopes. Regarding paper management, B/Ds should comply with the guidelines as far as possible and use recycled paper instead of virgin paper.
To ensure proper recovery of recyclable paper, government offices have facilities for collection of recyclable paper. Such paper will be collected by cleansing contractors and delivered to recyclers for recycling. The quantity of recyclables collected each time will be recorded by the contractors.
Ends/Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:11
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