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The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (February 19) collected an estimated total of 362 tonnes of refuse in 15 Lunar New Year (LNY) Fair sites throughout Hong Kong, an increase of roughly 59 tonnes more than last year.
"Among the refuse cleared, some 129 tonnes were collected in the Victoria Park LNY Fair, similar to that of last year," an FEHD spokesman said.
The spokesman noted that this year, apart from collecting recyclables including waste paper, plastic materials and metal in each LNY Fair site, the FEHD had continued to try out collection of waste wood at the Victoria Park, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long venues, with about nine tonnes of bamboo and wooden planks etc sent to the EcoPark of the Environmental Protection Department at Tuen Mun for recycling.
The department deployed about 240 staff members, 42 refuse collection vehicles and street washing vehicles to clean up the Victoria Park venue. The other 14 LNY Fair sites were cleaned by the department's cleansing contractors.
The department also gathered some 1 180 unsold pots of flowers and plants donated by the vendors in the fairs. They were delivered free to 193 elderly homes and 11 public hospitals by 21 volunteer teams made up of FEHD staff, the spokesman added.
All refuse collection work was completed at about 5pm. After thorough cleansing, the venues were restored to their original state.
Ends/Thursday, February 19, 2015
Issued at HKT 21:31
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