Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, on Government support for the local recycling industry after attending a public event today (September 7):
 
Reporter: Could the Government do more, even talk with Beijing for some special arrangement and try to help the paper recyclers?
 
Secretary for the Environment: I said earlier that those recent incidents about waste paper recycling are not really about Beijing and their latest policy. It is another issue that we have already communicated closely with the concerned recyclers. According to the latest information provided by them last night and this morning, they are going to continue the collection of waste paper in the coming week. So it would be handled properly at this stage. But for the mid and long term, I said earlier that following the Mainland authorities' tightened criteria for importing various recyclables, I think it is time for the concerned recyclers, including those in Hong Kong, to upgrade their operation so that they can keep up with the global and national requirements to maintain their business and to handle Hong Kong's recyclables.  
 
Reporter: You mean you have reserved some land for the paper recyclers to store their recyclables?
 
Secretary for the Environment: In view of the situation of the recycling (issue) in the region, we are having the contingency plan, in case some of those recyclables have to be temporarily stored locally, and we have identified suitable land to help and support the recyclers to do so. Within a short (period of) time we have already identified a large piece of land, the size is in terms of hectares, to support such contingency use. So I think if needed, we can further identify other areas (to serve the purpose).
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Thursday, September 7, 2017
Issued at HKT 15:27

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