Proposals for Treatment Hong Kong’s MSW

August 12, 2002

Fifty-nine submissions from local and overseas consortiums were submitted to the government on ways to tackle Hong Kong's nearly 10,000 tones of solid waste dumped into landfills every day.

The group will not only look into cost-effectiveness in reducing the amount of waste dumped in landfills but also the number of jobs created. Short-listed consortiums will be invited to tender after the government formulates a policy for the best way forward for waste treatment and recycling. One proposal stated it would create at least 8,500 jobs and save the government $US120 million a year.
Hong Kong’s landfills are expected to be full in 10 to 15 years.

Recycling Firms Evicted from Hong Kong Site

July 30, 2002

Government officers and police yesterday took back the Kai Tak site from recycling operators who had been running businesses there for two years, ending a week-long standoff. The land was being used by 20 recycling operators after being leased to the Hong Kong General Association of Recycling Business three years ago at a cost of $10,000 a year.

The government informed the association in March that it would take back the land in July to turn it into a temporary barge terminal. The operators refused to leave and claimed they had an oral agreement with the Lands Department to extend the lease for a further five years.

The Lands Department said it had invited the association to bid for an 80,000-square-foot site in Cha Kwo Ling near Lam Tin while the HK recycling association said it could not afford the government's terms.

C&D Waste Transferred into Mountain

July 6, 2002

Tianjin has found a novel way of dealing with its waste problem - build a mountain with it. The city recently announced plans to build a 50-metre-high mountain made from five million cubic meters of the city's construction waste such as concrete, marble, ash and steel. City officials plan to build a recreational park surrounding the rubble mountain, which will have a base of more than 75,000 square meters.

Officials hope to use the mountain to educate residents on the need to reduce and recycle waste. According to Tianjin officials, the city's 221 landfills, which occupy around 5.4 square km, are reaching capacity and seriously affecting the environment. China faces a mounting waste disposal crisis since each mainlander on average produces more than 440kg of refuse per year. Tianjin alone produces more than six million tons of construction waste annually, compared to 2.6 million tons five years ago.

More than 200 mainland cities were "surrounded" by rubbish.
Officials say one of the major causes of the growing problem is the lack of proper refuse treatment and recycling.

Hong Kong to Use Incineration for Treating MSW?

June 15, 2002

According to Hong Kong's environment report last year, ''unless action is taken quickly ... rubbish could pile up on the streets within few years''.
Official figures show that over the past five years the volume of domestic waste delivered to landfill sites has increased by about four per cent per annum, compared to the 0.9 per cent annual population growth. Worst case scenario figures indicate that Hong Kong's landfills could be full as early as 2005.

However, depending on the success of various initiatives, maximum landfill capacity might stretch to 2012. The bottom line is that the strategic landfills, as they are known, are likely to fall far short of fulfilling their intended operational life span and will be full well in advance of the originally intended year of 2020.

Given that it takes about 15 years to develop sites and no new ones have yet been identified, it is increasingly unlikely landfill usage will retain a predominant role in the future of waste disposal. The very nature of waste disposal and the potential environmental issues associated with it dictates that a modern waste management system requires an innovative approach. Over-reliance on one method is not sustainable.

The plan underscores the importance of minimizing and recycling waste in order to reduce the volume delivered to landfill sites. Community awareness and participation in minimizing and recycling waste severely lags behind industry's efforts and makes the Government's target of recycling 58 per cent of municipal waste by 2007 ever more difficult. The excuse of inconvenient or insufficient waste separation bins will soon be untenable as plans are set to double the number of public waste separation bins to 16,000.

When the roll-out is complete, two-thirds of the population will have convenient access to these bins at home, school and work. The Government expects to inject $100 million into community-based waste reduction and recovery activities.

The recovery and recycling movement was recently extended to cover mobile phone batteries which, to date, have been disposed of in landfills. The batteries contain recoverable components such as cobalt, cadmium and nickel, all of which have the potential to contaminate soil and ultimately groundwater.

Recently it invited expressions of interest on economically and environmentally effective ways of dealing with the problem. It has been reported that two of the companies likely to put forward suggestions favor incineration. The thought of incineration is likely to cause a stir among environmental activists and concerned citizens, mainly because of its potential to release polluting substances into the atmosphere.
Despite this the Government has indicated that it is willing to consider all proposals and has even gone so far as to suggest that there may be no choice but to settle for incineration if no other viable proposals are received.

However, it is interesting to note how much progress has been made in relation to incineration technology. Strict legal emissions limits and heightened global environmental awareness have helped in the development of relatively clean incineration processes.

In fact incineration is no longer just a waste-disposal method but it can also produce valuable by-products such as energy and ash which can be used in the manufacture of cement. These factors combine to make incineration an attractive option in terms of providing an effective and environmentally sensitive waste management system.

Regardless of the Government's preferred future method of waste disposal it is clear there is no single solution. An effective and sustainable waste management system can only be achieved through community awareness and a thorough examination of all options.

Can Compressing Machine for Hong Kong

June 3, 2002

A $US 18, 750 compressing machine, designed and built by the Hong Kong Productivity Council for the Government's Environmental Campaign Committee, was unveiled recently as part of a government drive to encourage consumers to recycle aluminum cans and plastic bottles in return for discount coupons.

The Hong Kong Government has stated it would not subsidize supermarkets for the machines or the scheme.

Hong Kong’s New Landfill Fees

May 28, 2002

Under the revised proposal, truck drivers carrying demolition waste generated by work in homes or shops will have to pay $125 a ton to dump the refuse in landfills. Site contractors or developers would also be asked to pay for waste produced at large construction sites.

"As there are about 300,000 small ad-hoc waste producers each year, it would be almost impossible to locate them . . . Hence we have no alternative but to put the responsibility on waste [haulers]," said the Environmental and Food Bureau in a document. Waste from building sites forms about 70 to 80 per cent of all construction waste.

Some have warned of a repeat of the 1995 landfill blockade if the Government pressed ahead with the scheme. Drivers who were asked to pay $43 for each ton dumped their loads at the entrance of the landfill blocked the entrance in protest.

MSW Management Needed in Hong Kong

May 10, 2002

The Government claims to have averted a potential loss of $100 million in transporting and storing construction waste by dumping the materials into the second phase of the Disney theme park reclamation site.

The 3.6 million tonnes of construction and demolition materials from the Tseung Kwan O landfill was originally destined for the first phase of the reclamation project. But because of a delay in Tseung Kwan O, the material could not be shipped to the Disney site at Penny's Bay on Lantau in time. Sea sand costing $39.3 million had to be bought instead of using the demolition materials. The commission estimated transport and storage of the demolition waste would cost an extra $100 million.

Under the new plan, all the material will be used for the land reclamation after being sorted in Tseung Kwan O. Mr Lau said the new plan was drawn up after an approach from the commission on the issue last year. Funding for the plan was approved by the Legco public works. Although lawmakers generally accepted the plan, they called for better use of recycled landfill materials to free up space in landfills.

China Needs to Recycle More

May 8, 2002

Waste recycling and reproduction should be given as much attention as natural resources exploitation, experts said. Stating that recycling could help improve the environment while boosting economic growth at the same time.

There are now 2,800 enterprises in China that specialize in recycling waste and provide more than 8 million jobs, he said. Statistics show that China treated 350 million tons of waste in the last 50 years, including steel, paper, plastics and rubber.

For many years, China dumped liquid waste into the sea and solid waste into landfills. More than half of the waste were buried without being sanitized. Recycling started in the 1950s in China but has developed slowly. More than 1,200 billion tons of waste are produced each year in more than 300 Chinese cities, statistics show.

High technology wastes such as out-of-date computers, printers and batteries pose a new challenge for recyclers and local governments. To find new methods preferable to landfills and dumping, the country is encouraging enterprises that specialize in recycling to develop new technology for waste recovery.

Hong Kong Government seeks Help with MSW Disposal

Friday, April 26, 2002

The Hong Kong Government has urged local and international organizations to submit proposals on how to deal with the increasing amounts of MSW in Hong Kong to the Environmental Protection Department by noon on July 26.

Hong Kong realizes that its three largest landfills and eight refuse transfer stations will by full in 10 to 15 years if waste continues growing at the current rate. Hong Kong's current facilities collectively handle more than 3.4 million tonnes of solid waste each year.

Although recycling and reduction efforts have been made, the results were not significant enough to counter the increase in MSW. Therefore, the Hong Kong government wants to find ways to further minimise the amount of waste that must be disposed of in our landfills, using state-of-the-art technologies and practices which can provide clear technical, environmental, economic and social benefits to Hong Kong.

Submission forms can be downloaded at www.info.gov.hk/epd or obtained from the EPD on the third floor, West Wing, 88 Victoria Road, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong.

Beijing’s Urban Infrastructure Development Projects
March 20, 2002

Beijing’s solid waste disposal system will be upgraded by waste disposal stations at Mentougou, Fengtai, Chaoyang and Dongcun. The new systems will be capable of handling special wastes such as medical wastes, waste batteries, industry hazardous waste, etc.

Since China's entry into the WTO, Beijing has been trying to open its infrastructure projects to foreign investors, mainly in the wastewater, power generation, and solid waste disposal sectors. Although the government plans to use BOT methods to implement the projects the entity can be joint venture, Sino-foreign cooperation, or wholly foreign-owned, unless restricted by the government.

Presently the Beijing Municipal government is launch two projects, which are open to foreign investment. They are Caoqiao Gas Co-generation & Recycle Thermal Electric Plant and Dongcun Solid Waste Comprehensive Disposal Plant.

Caoqiao Gas Co-generation & Recycle Thermal Electric Plant will erect two Co-generation & Recycle Generators and four hot water gas boilers, with heat supply capacity of 600 million KK/h and an electricity generation capacity of 40 MW. The total investment is about US $300 million.

Dongcun Solid Waste Comprehensive Disposal Plant is designed to treat 200 tons per day of solid waste, and classify and collect waste of 300 tons per day. After completion, fertilizers of 200 tons per day can be made from the wastes. Estimated investment for this project is US$ 10 million.

The above-mentioned two projects are under preparation right now. Beijing Municipal Government will exempt the land use tax, provide land and matching facilities, and grant favorable policy relating to Beijing urban infrastructure construction.

Besides the aforementioned projects, there are solid waste treatment projects in suburban districts of Beijing.

Hong Kong Open to Using Incineration for Waste disposal

February 4, 2002

Incineration plants may used to deal with the SAR's annual 300 million tones of non-recyclable waste. Hong Kong Environmental Bureau is determining what technology would be appropriate based in provided it is economically viable and environmentally sound. The government is open to alternative technologies such as using microwaves or bio-chemical measures but considers these are new and expensive, so for now believes that incineration may be the only practical choice.

Presently all non-recyclable waste is disposed of in landfills which will be a full capacity by 2015. Some of Hong Kong firms’ are considering methods of incinerating waste to produce ingredients for cement, while other want to use it to generate electricity.

An industry source said an incineration plant would cost at least $1 billion.

Hong Kong Uses C&D Recycling Center

January 30, 2002

Hong Kong’s government's proposed increases in landfill tipping fees up to US$ 16/ton for construction and demolition companies is giving them incentitve to implement demolition schemes to save them money. Those developers who follow standard procedures in demolition followed by the segregate all recyclable waste will save on landfill tipping fees and the amount of construction materials. Many of Hong Kong contractors are in favor of the government setting up a central processing plant.