Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau says an artificial island off Shek Kwu Chau is the preferred site for Hong Kong's first integrated waste management facility.
Speaking to the media today, Mr Yau said the environmental impact assessment studies for developing the facility at Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun and the artificial island off Shek Kwu Chau have been completed and released for public inspection.
As part of its strategy for improved waste management, the Government plans to build an integrated waste management facility with a daily capacity of 3,000 tonnes.
Using advanced incineration as the core technology, the facility will reduce the volume of municipal solid waste treated by 90%. The facility will include a mechanical sorting and recycling facility. It will also recover energy from the waste to generate electricity for 100,000 households, achieving a reduction of 440,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
“To ensure protection of public health and the environment, the facility will adopt the most stringent European Union emission standards. The environmental impact assessment results confirm emissions from the facility will not cause any unacceptable health or environmental impact to Hong Kong,” Mr Yau said.
“Based on the result of the studies, the Government has assessed carefully the merits of the two shortlisted sites and considers the artificial island near Shek Kwu Chau as the preferred site for the first integrated waste management facility in Hong Kong.”
Factors taken into account include the overall distribution of waste treatment facilities, the distance for transportation of waste from refuse transfer stations in Hong Kong and Kowloon by ship to the future facility and the resulting environmental benefits, the impact of prevailing wind directions as well as possible economic synergy with nearby areas.
Mr Yau said the Government will consult district councils and stakeholders in the project's planning and implementation.
Subject to the assessment reports' approval, Mr Yau said funding will be sought from the Legislative Council Finance Committee in the first half of 2012 with a view to building the facility for commissioning by 2018.
Currently Hong Kong relies on landfills alone to dispose of waste. The existing three landfills are expected to reach full capacity by 2018.
Click here to see the assessment report. Public can submit their opinion by March 18.
