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Towards the end of the lunar year, every household is busy with the year-end clean-up, and their waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) intended for disposal may be recovered for the benefit of families in need. The Under Secretary for the Environment, Ms Christine Loh, together with staff from St. James' Settlement visited a family in Tin Shui Wai today (January 29) and they took along a refrigerator and a microwave oven, both recycled and repaired properly, for use by the family.
Ms Loh said that over 70 000 tonnes of WEEE are generated in Hong Kong every year and much of this waste equipment can be recycled and donated to families in need after checks and repairs so as to practise green living while assisting the community.
With funding support from the Environment and Conservation Fund, St James' Settlement has implemented the WEEE GO GREEN project to provide WEEE recovery and recycling services for the local community. WEEE that can be reused after repair will be donated to those in need.
This year, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is once again organising the Chinese New Year WEEE Recycling Collection Services campaign to encourage the public to recover WEEE intended for disposal after a clean-up. The EPD will arrange centrally free collection services for participating housing estates to help transfer collected WEEE to WEEE GO GREEN for proper treatment or recycling. The EPD has organised year-end recovery activities for seven consecutive years. This year the activity has received a very positive response, with over 370 housing estates signing up so far, representing a 20 per cent increase compared with previous years.
Ms Loh is pleased that the year-end recovery activity has been well received. The support indicates that there is an increasing environmental awareness in the community, and many families in need have benefited from the initiative. She called on the public to respond to the recovery activity with a view to practising green living and celebrating a green Lunar New Year. She also said that the Government is preparing new legislation for early implementation of the producer responsibility system to handle WEEE generated in Hong Kong properly.
Apart from WEEE, products such as computers, rechargeable batteries and compact fluorescent lamps will also be collected under the campaign and transferred to the relevant recovery programmes, including the Computer Recycling Programme, the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Programme and the Fluorescent Lamp Recycling Programme managed by the Hong Kong WEEE Recycling Association, for proper treatment.
More information on the Chinese New Year WEEE Recycling Collection Services campaign is available at www.wastereduction.gov.hk. Housing estates wishing to participate in the campaign can call 2838 3111 for enquiries.
Ends/Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:23
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