About 250 to 300 million metric tonnes of fill materials are required for the 1,000 hectares of Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands reclamation, an estimate that is not the latest assessment as claimed in a media report.

The Government made the statement in response to a media report on the reclamation and fill materials for the artificial islands, noting that the materials for the reclamation comprise inert construction waste (public fill) generated from construction projects.

The rest of the material is mainly manufactured sand instead of marine sand as reported by the media, the statement emphasised.

On average, about 15 million metric tonnes of public fill are generated every year in Hong Kong. In 10 to 15 years, about 150 to 230 million metric tonnes of public fill will be generated. The Government will make the best use of the public fill and accord priority to using it in reclamation.

The remaining fill materials are mainly manufactured sand, a by-product of quarries, and its production volume can be adjusted according to demand. Many quarries in the Pearl River Delta area can supply manufactured sand.

Hong Kong has been carrying out two large-scale reclamation projects concurrently, namely the Tung Chung East reclamation project and the Hong Kong International Airport Three-runway System reclamation project, with a total area of about 800 hectares. The progress of the projects is satisfactory.

The fill materials for the Tung Chung East reclamation consist of 75% of public fill and 25% manufactured sand. For the airport reclamation project, the percentage is 60% of manufactured sand and 20% of public fill, with the remaining 20% from marine sand.

Reclamation does not necessarily rely on marine sand as a fill material, the statement added.

As regards the launch of the studies for the Lung Kwu Tan near-shore reclamation, the planning and engineering studies for the re-planning of the Tuen Mun West area and the Ma Liu Shui reclamation as outlined in the Policy Address, the Government noted that even with these reclamation projects, the issues of fill materials will not affect the taking forward of the projects with appropriate arrangements.

There are two temporary fill banks in Hong Kong, one in Tuen Mun Area 38 and the other in Tseung Kwan O Area 137, with a total stockpiling capacity of around 20 million metric tonnes for storing reusable inert construction waste generated from local construction works.

Local reclamation projects not only use the fill materials from fill banks but also substantially absorb reusable construction waste generated from local construction works, facilitating the circular use of resources and alleviating the pressure on fill banks from saturation.

The media also reported that the Government will study the introduction of land for light industries in the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands.

In response to that report, the statement said the Government has always been planning to build Hong Kong's third core business district on the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands that would be comparable to the Central district instead of steering towards the direction of light industry development.