GOVERNMENT’S SOLUTION ON WASTE PROBLEMS

The Waste Disposal Plan, published in 1989, sets out a strategy for municipal solid waste disposal in Hong Kong. Old waste facilities have been phased out and new, cost-effective facilities have been built to higher environmental standards, under the management of the Environmental Protection Department.

The Policy Framework for the Management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) (2005-2014) published in December 2005 sets out a comprehensive strategy for the management of MSW in Hong Kong with clear targets and timetables for the ten years from 2005 to 2014. The Policy Framework is built on the three-tiered approach: (i) avoidance and minimization; (ii) reuse, recovery and recycling and (iii) bulk reduction and disposal. While waste avoidance and recovery will remain to be the top priority and other modern waste treatment technologies will be employed in future for the treatment of waste, it is important to recognize that landfills will always be needed as a final means of disposal for unrecyclable wastes and waste residues after treatment. As the existing landfills are running out of space, the EPD has commissioned engineering and environmental studies to look into the feasibility of extending the existing three strategic landfills. The EPD has been implementing several waste-reduction plans in recent years and a key point of that is the recollection and reuse of the waste.