SCMP
Cheung Chi-fai
Jan 19, 2011
Environmental officials put a price tag yesterday on their proposed solutions to Hong Kong’s mounting waste problem: HK$25 billion to build new facilities and an additional HK$950 million a year in operating costs.
The amount, set out in a submission to lawmakers, includes the combined capital costs of a mega-incinerator capable of burning 3,000 tonnes of waste each day; two organic waste treatment facilities; and extending landfills in Tseung Kwan O, Tuen Mun and North District.
The Environmental Protection Department provided no breakdown of the costs yesterday. It is not yet known how the expenditures will be funded.
Hong Kong is racing against time to prevent a waste crisis after the government ditched one of three proposals for extending landfills amid strong public opposition.
Officials have said they plan to step up recycling and waste reduction through financial incentives or other policy moves – but an urgent need remains for new waste disposal options besides landfills.
Despite the huge spending, which would be more than enough to build and operate the whole West Kowloon Cultural District, officials have dropped strong hints that the city’s waste incineration capability might have to be doubled in the long term.
Recycling efforts will fall short by 8,000 tonnes of municipal waste by 2015, officials estimate – even under the unrealistic assumption that waste generation were to show no growth in the next five years.
In the past decade, waste produced by Hong Kong people and their visitors grew by 21 per cent, from 5.3 million tonnes in 2001 to 6.4 million tonnes in 2009.
“Having regard to the volume of waste that we generate today, we consider there may be a need for one further integrated-waste management facility of the capacity of 3,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day and some more organic waste treatment facilities,” the Environment Protection Department said.
“We would launch a site search for this purpose while looking into the potential of private sector projects that can provide the waste treatment services.”
The public will soon be consulted about the proposed site for the first waste incinerator in 13 years. The last old-waste burning chamber was closed in 1997.
The two shortlisted sites are Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun, and Shek Kwu Chau south of Lantau. The latter site would take longer to complete as it would involve sea reclamation.
Apart from the two places, Green Island Cement, a subsidiary of Cheung Kong group controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, has been promoting its waste-to-cement technology, which it claims could be much cheaper and faster to build than conventional incineration.
Green Island says the facility would require no more than four years to plan, build and commission, and the capital cost would be only around HK$2 billion, with annual running costs estimated at HK$200 million a year.
The company is unhappy that its cement production plan at Tap Shek Kok in Tuen Mun is excluded from the government’s site selection process for waste incineration.
Environment officials say they would consider the project in the longer term if the company can demonstrate the technical viability of the technology, satisfy environmental impact assessment requirements, and consult district councils.
Michelle Au Wing-tze, a senior environmental affairs officer said it was vital for the government to make sure the tendering process was fair and that it should be “open to all to bid”.
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