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The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, and a delegation from Islands District paid a visit to the Macao Incineration Plant today (December 7) to see for themselves the waste-to-energy facility and the development of waste management facilities in Macau.
The delegation comprised about 30 representatives from the Islands District Council and local organisations. After their arrival in Macau, Mr Wong and the delegation were briefed by officials of the Environmental Protection Bureau on the environmental infrastructure there. They then visited the incineration plant at Taipa.
Occupying an area of around four hectares, the incineration plant was developed in two phases and has six incineration units which together can treat 1 700 tonnes of waste per day by using moving-grate incineration technology. The heat produced during the incineration process is recovered and used for electricity generation. The electricity generated is enough to power the plant's use, and a large portion of surplus electricity is transmitted to the public electricity grid.
Mr Wong noted that, as is the case in other advanced cities, the management of municipal solid waste in Macau is practical. The use of modern incineration in end-of-pipe waste treatment not only treats waste effectively, but also turns waste into energy. Hong Kong could gain insight from the experience of Macau, he said.
Mr Wong pointed out that the Hong Kong Government unveiled in May this year "Hong Kong: Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022", which maps out a comprehensive strategy to tackle the waste management challenges in Hong Kong. Apart from promoting waste reduction at source and recycling, the Government needs to allocate resources to enhance waste-related infrastructure in a timely manner, including the development of waste-to-energy integrated waste management facilities. He said he hoped that the visit could enable people from the local community in Hong Kong to learn more about Macau's waste-to-energy facility and serve as a reference for Hong Kong in developing relevant facilities in future.
Looking forward to the future development of related environmental infrastructure in Hong Kong, Mr Wong expressed the hope that mature and reliable modern technology would be adopted and, at the same time, that the overall planning and design would become a new green initiative that could fit in with the environment and the community.
Mr Wong and the delegation concluded the visit and returned to Hong Kong on the same day.
Ends/Saturday, December 7, 2013
Issued at HKT 13:15
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