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The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (January 4) reminded the public that the relevant amendment regulation to designate the South East New Territories (SENT) Landfill at Tseung Kwan O to only receive construction waste will come into effect on January 6. From then on, the SENT Landfill will receive only construction waste, and vehicles delivering non-construction waste will not be allowed to enter the SENT Landfill for waste disposal.
"Waste collectors should deliver domestic, commercial and industrial waste to the EPD's refuse transfer stations (RTSs) which offer refuse transfer service at a fee, or to the other two landfills at Ta Kwu Ling in North District and Nim Wan in Tuen Mun for disposal. Each waste collector has to open a registered account with the EPD before using the refuse transfer service," a spokesman for the EPD said.
To ensure that normal waste collection services can be maintained to safeguard environmental hygiene, the EPD spokesman reminded affected property owners and property management companies that they should ensure that their waste collection contractors have already made necessary arrangements.
The EPD spokesman said that upon the commencement of the amendment regulation on January 6, the waste intake at the SENT Landfill will be reduced to approximately 500 vehicular loads, and most of the diverted waste will be absorbed by the RTS network. To facilitate the diversion arrangement, the EPD has worked with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to reschedule some of the waste collection service and delivery routing in Kowloon and the New Territories and thereby spare more handling capacity at RTSs for the waste diverted from the SENT Landfill. Moreover, the EPD and the stakeholders, including representatives from the waste collection trade and the property management sector, have been working in close collaboration, and a working group was set up in March 2014 for the smooth implementation of the waste diversion plan.
Currently, the EPD has strict requirements on the environmental and operational performance of RTSs in order to ensure that no environmental nuisance will be caused to nearby residents. To minimise the environmental impact on the community due to waste diversion, the EPD amended the Waste Disposal (Designated Waste Disposal Facilities) Regulation to require all refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) entering a landfill or an RTS to be equipped with a suitable metal tailgate cover and a waste water sump tank. In addition, the Government has launched a one-off subsidy scheme to assist RCV owners in retrofitting their vehicles accordingly. In the past, some RCVs that did not have sufficient pollution prevention devices caused environmental nuisance, such as leachate dripping, waste spattering or odours. Since the relevant amendment regulation came into operation on April 1, 2015, the situation has been greatly improved.
Details of the designation of the SENT Landfill to receive only construction waste and the waste diversion arrangements are available at www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/prob_solutions/waste-diversion-plan.html. Relevant enquiries can be made via email at wastediversion@epd.gov.hk or by calling the EPD's hotline at 2872 1727. For enquiries regarding the refuse transfer service provided by the RTSs, please email rts@epd.gov.hk or call the hotline at 2872 1704.
Ends/Monday, January 4, 2016
Issued at HKT 12:30
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