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The Home Affairs Department today (August 14) launched the "Community Used Clothes Recycling Bank" Scheme to support environmental protection and help people donate used clothes to charities.
Four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) experienced in used clothes collection were appointed as scheme managers to look after "banks" placed at 172 off-street locations.
"The 'Community Used Clothes Recycling Bank' is a community participation scheme. It is a partnership of NGOs, the Government and District Councils (DCs) to facilitate people to donate used clothes,กจ an HAD spokesman said.
With the consent of concerned government departments and owners' operations/property management agents, District Officers of 18 districts have identified 172 locations for placing the "banks", which include parks, sitting-out areas, sports centres, libraries, entrances of community halls/ community centres, and common parts of private buildings/commercial centres. (See Annex I for list of locations.)
The four organisations appointed as the scheme managers are Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong), Christian Action, the Salvation Army and the Conservancy Association. (See Annex II for contact information of the Scheme Managers and their responsible districts)
All approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance are eligible to apply for operating the "banks". Interested organisations should approach the four scheme managers direct.
The scheme managers will, until the end of August, process applications for operating the "banks" in the October to December quarter. Participating organisations may operate the banks on their own, or seek assistance from the scheme manager in areas such as transportation, sorting, processing and disposal of used clothes.
Interested organisations can visit HAD's website for details of the scheme (www.had.gov.hk/en/public_services/com_clo_rec_ban_sch/index.htm).
On enforcement action against on-street used cloth collection cages, the spokesman added that more than 300 cages had been removed since mid-July. As no owners had come forward to claim the cages, no charges have been laid. Concerned departments will eventually apply for court orders to confiscate the removed cages.
Ends/Monday, August 14, 2006
Issued at HKT 20:10
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