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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 (July 6):
Question:
Hong Kong's existing legislation permits import and export of electronic waste (e-waste) without hazardous components for recycling, while import and export of that with hazardous components (such as liquid display monitors and computer monitors) are subject to regulation, including the requirement that importers and exporters must hold import and export permits issued by the Environmental Protection Department. It has been reported that an international environmental group attached 200 trackers equipped with global positioning system to e-waste in the United States (US) and subsequently found that 66 such trackers were exported with the e-waste from US to various places in the world, of which 51 (i.e. 80 per cent) were transported to Hong Kong. It has also been reported that some of those trackers were re-exported with the e-waste from Hong Kong to other places. However, as at June 1, 36 trackers still remained in Hong Kong. As the e-waste in question contains cathode ray tubes and liquid display monitors with hazardous components, the incident reflects that the import of e-waste with hazardous components into Hong Kong is rampant. Regarding Hong Kong's import and treatment of e-waste, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current procedure for treating e-waste with hazardous components in Hong Kong; the details of the facilities for treating and disposing of e-waste at present, and the locations of the sites the current permitted land uses of which include the treatment of e-waste;
(2) of the names and locations of the existing licensed chemical waste treatment facilities, and the types of e-waste permitted to be treated and the work procedure permitted to be performed thereat;
(3) of the respective numbers of import and export permits for e-waste issued in each of the past five years by the authorities;
(4) whether it knows the respective quantities of regulated and non-regulated e-waste that were (i) produced locally, (ii) imported, (iii) exported, (iv) re-exported, (v) disposed of at landfills, and (vi) disposed of at other waste treatment facilities, in each of the past five years (set out in a table);
(5) of the quantity of illegally transferred e-waste intercepted by the authorities in each of the past five years, and the number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted against the persons concerned;
(6) whether the authorities will consider reviewing the definition of e-waste with hazardous components contained in the existing legislation, with a view to bringing circuit boards and electronic products with circuit boards under regulatory control;
(7) whether the authorities will strengthen the monitoring of e-waste treatment workshops; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(8) given that the existing legislation permits import of e-waste without hazardous components into Hong Kong for recycling, whether the authorities have imposed regulation on the treatment of the materials left over from the recycling process of such e-waste; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Provisions on waste import and export under our existing Waste Disposal Ordinance (WDO) are based on the requirements of the Basel Convention, and are in line with the principles adopted worldwide for regulatory control on waste import and export. Recyclables are raw materials with commercial value and their trading, import and export are very active in the international market. Proper use of recyclables as production materials for recycling or reuse can help reduce waste disposal and support the circular economy, thereby conducive to sustainable development. The Basel Convention thus allows the import, re-export and export of non-hazardous recyclables for recycling and recovery purposes.
Under the Basel Convention, there are two types of electronic waste (e-waste): hazardous e-waste and non-hazardous e-waste. Non-hazardous e-waste items such as computer main units and scanners are classified as non-hazardous recyclables worldwide, and their import and export are allowed for recycling and recovery purposes. For hazardous e-waste items such as computer monitors and liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, they are regarded as regulated hazardous waste items under the WDO and their import and export are subject to stringent permit control. As the Government's policy is to prohibit the import of hazardous e-waste, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) hardly issues any such permit. To combat the illegal import of hazardous e-waste, the EPD and the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) exercise strict law enforcement based on risk assessment and intelligence to conduct inspections on container shipments against import and export of hazardous e-waste. Hazardous e-waste is also a kind of chemical waste and its local storage, packing, labelling, delivery and disposal are all subject to control under the Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation.
(1) and (2) If the above-mentioned e-waste belongs to chemical waste, operators of the relevant e-waste recycling sites should be registered with the EPD as chemical waste producers. Storage, packing and labelling of such e-waste should be in compliance with the relevant legislation. Licensed chemical waste collectors should be engaged for collection and delivery of such waste to licensed chemical waste treatment facilities (CWTFs) for disposal. Chemical waste disposal licences should be obtained for disposal of chemical waste.
There are currently three licensed facilities for disposal of hazardous e-waste in Hong Kong. The one at the West New Territories (WENT) Landfill is for disposal. The other two licensed CWTFs are for treatment and recycling of waste computer monitors and the relevant details are tabulated in Annex.
Regarding the permitted land uses involved, the Planning Department (PlanD) advises that as different e-waste recycling sites handle different types of e-waste with different processes, the permitted land uses of individual recycling sites would depend very much on their operation mode and scale. Taking the above three licensed CWTFs as examples, the one located at the WENT Landfill is not covered by any statutory plan while the other two are within an "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Resource Recovery Park" zone under the Approved Tuen Mun Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) No. S/TM/33 and an "Industrial" zone under the Draft Fanling/Sheung Shui OZP No. S/FSS/21 respectively. Both are commonly permitted land uses.
(3) Since the Basel Convention allows the import, re-export and export of non-hazardous recyclables for recycling and recovery purposes, the import and export of non-hazardous e-waste are not subject to permit control under the WDO.
As the Government's policy is to prohibit the import of hazardous e-waste, the EPD did not issue any permit for such import in the past five years. Applications for local export of hazardous e-waste are considered according to the principles of the Basel Convention. If the applicants concerned have obtained permission from the relevant countries importing hazardous e-waste, such e-waste may be exported to appropriate treatment facilities overseas (e.g. in Japan or South Korea) for recycling. Details on permits issued for local export of hazardous e-waste are tabulated in Table 1.
Table 1: Number of Permits Issued for Export of Hazardous E-waste
Type of E-waste 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
--------------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Lead-acid batteries 2 1 1 2 0
Non-lead-acid 3 4 3 2 3
batteries
(4) The Government does not have information about import and re-export of e-waste in Hong Kong as there is no specific international harmonised code for this category in the Hong Kong Merchandise Trade Statistics Classification. However, the EPD has engaged a consultant to conduct a survey on "Generation and Disposal Practice of Used/End-of-Life Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Hong Kong" to obtain general information about estimated quantities of locally generated e-waste as well as e-waste generated locally and exported for recycling.
Most of the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) generated locally are exported to developing countries for reuse or recovery of valuable materials. Relevant details are shown in Table 2. According to the EPD's annual disposal surveys of municipal solid waste (MSW) conducted at landfills, the amount of WEEE delivered to landfills represents less than 0.5 per cent of the total quantity of MSW disposed of at landfills. Hazardous e-waste is processed (including treatment and disposal) at licensed CWTFs in Hong Kong. Relevant details are shown in Table 3.
Table 2: Quantities of Locally Generated E-waste and E-waste Generated Locally and Exported for Recycling
E-waste (tonnes)
Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
---- ---- ---- ---- ----- ----
Locally 75 000 70 000 71 000 70 000 (Note 1)
generated
e-waste
E-waste 56 000 50 000 50 000 53 000 (Note 1)
generated
locally and
exported
for recycling
Note 1: Respective figures are still being compiled.
Table 3: Quantities of Locally Generated Hazardous E-waste
E-waste (tonnes)
Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
---- ---- ---- ---- ----- ----
Quantity of 78 434 153 59 140
locally generated
hazardous e-waste
processed at
licensed CWTFs
(5) Based on risk assessment and intelligence, the EPD and the C&ED conduct inspections on container shipments against import and export of hazardous e-waste with a view to intercepting illegal import of hazardous e-waste into Hong Kong. All shipments of illegally-imported waste will be returned to their places of origin and prosecutions will be instituted against the importers concerned. Details of each case will also be sent by the EPD to the relevant enforcement agencies overseas for follow-up action. For the some 3 200 containers inspected in the past five years (between 2011 and 2015), the EPD completed prosecutions against around 100 cases of irregularities. Relevant details are tabulated in Table 4.
Table 4: Figures on Prosecutions and Quantities of E-waste Intercepted
Year Number of Prosecution Quantity of E-waste
Intercepted (tonnes)
---- --------------------- -------------------
2011 21 883
2012 15 326
2013 20 771
2014 21 578
2015 22 538
(6) Hong Kong is gradually introducing the Producer Responsibility Scheme for various products. To enhance the control on e-waste, the Legislative Council passed the Promotion of Recycling and Proper Disposal (Electrical Equipment and Electronic Equipment) (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 (the Amendment Ordinance) in March 2016 for the proper management of locally generated WEEE with the implementation of other complementary measures.
The Amendment Ordinance will be first applicable to eight categories of regulated electrical equipment, including washing machines, refrigerators, air-conditioners, televisions, computers, printers, scanners and monitors. Under the Amendment Ordinance, regulated WEEE from the above-mentioned electrical equipment shall be properly treated whether or not they are defined as chemical waste. Specifically, any person engaged in the storage, treatment, reprocessing or recycling of regulated WEEE must obtain a waste disposal licence, while a permit will be required for the import and export of regulated WEEE. The EPD is drawing up the implementation details and the necessary subsidiary legislation. Subject to the progress, the EPD will determine the date for effecting the Amendment Ordinance.
For waste printed circuit boards, although their import for recycling and recovery purposes is not subject to permit control, their treatment processes are regulated under the WDO if such processes (such as chemical treatment or crushing into powder or flakes) involve the release of harmful substances.
(7) and (8) Similar to other local manufacturing industries, the operations of e-waste recycling sites must comply with relevant environmental laws (such as the requirement of obtaining a licence for discharge of wastewater) depending on the business scope and practices of individual recyclers. Upon commencement of the Amendment Ordinance, any premises engaged in the storage, treatment, reprocessing or recycling of regulated WEEE must obtain a waste disposal licence. Yet similar to the waste generated locally from other local industries, the leftover materials generated from recycling sites of recyclables can be disposed of at landfills.
In collaboration with the Fire Services Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, PlanD and Lands Department, the EPD conducts joint inspections of e-waste recycling sites from time to time to ensure that their operations are in full compliance with the relevant laws in respect of pollution control, fire safety, environmental hygiene and land use. Those operating at open yards are of prime concern as their neighbourhood may be easily affected by their operations. Stringent enforcement action is taken against any irregularity. In the past five years, the EPD conducted about 700 inspections on e-waste recycling sites, where 16 cases were prosecuted and convicted.
Ends/Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:45
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