Going green: Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works Dr Sarah Liao joins a new mascot "Dorothy" to demonstrate the proper way to separate waste at its source.

Waste is an imminent problem in Hong Kong as its three landfills will be filled up in the next decade, Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works Dr Sarah Liao says.

Officiating at the opening ceremony of the pilot programme on source separation of waste, Dr Liao urged people to join hands with the Government to reduce waste and turn Hong Kong into a beautiful green city.

The one-year pilot programme on source separation has been launched in Eastern District with a view to identifying cost-effective waste-recovery modes.

About 120,000 residents from 13 housing estates are participating in the trial. Each estate will adopt the best waste separation and recovery mode tailored to its individual characteristics.

The programme's objective is to assist residents to separate waste at source by providing waste separation facilities on each floor.

More types of waste to be included

It also broadens the types of recyclables recovered in a bid to further enhance the waste-recovery rate and reduce waste.

For buildings with sufficient space, waste-separation facilities for different recyclables will be put in place in the refuse room of each floor.

For those with insufficient space, mixed recyclables will be collected in designated containers or areas. Cleansing workers will then separate the recyclables at central refuse collection points on-site.

Apart from paper, aluminium cans and plastic bottles, recovered recyclables will include other types of metal cans, mixed metal items, plastic bags and mixed plastics.

Regular collection programmes for specific recyclables such as clothing, electrical and electronic appliances, and computers will be organised in these estates.

Recyclables are separated in the estates and sold to recyclers direct without having to transport them to a centralised location for further processing.

Dr Liao said that different recovery modes will be introduced to other housing estates by their property management companies if the results of the pilot programme were satisfactory.

Waste recovery can be profitable business

Since the Government introduced the three-colour waste separation mode in 1998, about 400,000 tonnes of waste paper, 12,000 tonnes of aluminium cans and 3,000 tonnes of plastic bottles have been recovered with a market value of $300 million.

As a result, it also saved $50 million in landfill costs.

Dr Liao said that as people become more and more environmentally conscious, there is ample potential to turn domestic waste recovery into profitable businesses.

The Environmental Protection Department will present awards to participating housing estates achieving the highest average recovery quantities per household per month.

A new mascot, "Dorothy", has been designed to demonstrate the proper way to separate waste at source.