CTA: The Dutch Government recognises Hong Kong ENB failures:
- – Large quantities of waste are produced and not recycled
- – Lacking of right incentives and regulation to reduce waste substantially
- – Landfills will be soon exhausted
- – Lack of space hampers extension or new landfills
- – Insufficient infrastructure to handle waste efficiently ??
- – Public opposition against planned incinerator, public distrust
- – Not sufficient awareness in HK among residents and business that waste is a problem and solving it will cost money
Framework
What HK needs is a comprehensive legislation, regulation, a tax and incentive framework to tackle the waste problem comprehensively. As of yet there are some voluntary schemes which will probably be insufficient. Furthermore, on short notice, HK needs alternative disposal options for its landfills. The end goal should not be just to deal with waste, but also produce less of it at the source and make businesses and consumers active and responsible stakeholders.
CTA: It seems the Dutch were also suckered by the ENB landfill exhaustion figures
- – Large quantities of waste are produced and not recycled
- – Lacking of right incentives and regulation to reduce waste substantially
- – Landfills will be soon exhausted
- – Lack of space hampers extension or new landfills
- – Insufficient infrastructure to handle waste efficiently ??
- – Public opposition against planned incinerator, public distrust
- – Not sufficient awareness in HK among residents and business that waste is a problem and solving it will cost money
Overview and data of the market
- – HK produces around 13500 tons of waste daily, which is mostly disposed of at landfills since there are no large-scale modern waste treatment facilities.
- – HK’s daily generation and disposal of waste per kg/person rate is high compared to other major Asian cities such as Seoul, Tokyo and Taipei. (CTA: where they have source separation of waste and recycling legislation in place already !)
- – Projections are that the first of the three major landfills will be full in 2014/2015, and the other two by 2018. Therefore, alternatives for landfills are necessary, since HK lacks space to keep extending these on the long term.
CTA: well this borders on misconduct in public office
- Recycling Waste EPD figures show that only 1 percent of recycling occurs in HK, the rest of waste for recycling is exported to mainland China. There is virtually no recycling industry in HK. As the government encourages more recycling business, a high demand on advanced recycling technologies or equipment in HK exists.
EPD website states:
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/pub_consult/landfill_backgr_r01.html
However, even if we could achieve these waste reduction targets, there would still be a significant amount of waste left that requires disposal. In the most optimistic scenario, that is, with low waste growth, waste reduction targets achieved and public filling areas continue to be available, the three landfills will be full between 2012 and 2018. On the other hand, in the worst scenario, the three landfills will be exhausted between 2005 and 2008 .
http://feedinghk.org/food-waste-stats/
In Hong Kong: Food accounts for a third of all solid waste in Hong Kong
- 3,200 tonnes of food are sent to landfill every day
- The volume of food waste has doubled in the last 5 years
- The remaining capacities of Hong Kong’s three landfills will be exhausted in 2014, 2016 and 2018
Source: Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department (2011-2012)
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/waste_maincontent.html
Outlook Last Revision Date:17 July 2015
The continued growth in wasteloads means Hong Kong is running out of landfill space far earlier than expected, and the existing landfills will be exhausted one by one by 2020 if waste levels continue to increase at current levels.
Unless solutions are identified immediately, we could face a crisis in the next decade of having nowhere to put the thousands of tonnes of waste thrown away each day.
Waste management in Hong Kong/business opportunities
Author: Netherlands Consulate General in HK