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The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has been progressively expanding the glass bottle recycling network among residential estates and has now extended the network to cover all 164 public rental housing estates under the Hong Kong Housing Authority.
Including the collection points in private housing estates, the EPD has achieved the target, as set out earlier this year, of setting up 1 000 glass bottle collection points on residential estates by the end of 2014. This means that more than 50 per cent of Hong Kong's population now has access to glass bottle recycling facilities within their residential estates.
A spokesman for the EPD said today (December 14), "The setting up of collection points to facilitate public participation is a crucial part of glass bottle recycling work. The EPD has been committed to proactively expanding the recycling network throughout this year. In addition to those set up on residential estates, we have in parallel set up 147 collection points in other public places. We will continue to expand the recycling network in 2015, paving the way for the implementation of a territory-wide glass bottle recycling programme."
The spokesman indicated that another key area of the EPD's work is to promote the commendable recycling attitude of putting "recycle clean" into practice. He explained that in addition to glass beverage bottles, food and sauce glass bottles, if properly washed, are also suitable for recycling.
The waste glass bottles collected from EPD collection points will be delivered to proper recyclers for recycling for production of eco-pavers or use in other public works projects, thereby turning waste glass into useful resources and helping to alleviate the pressure on landfills.
Meanwhile, the EPD is progressively developing Community Green Stations (CGSs) in 18 districts. The first CGS will be set up in Sha Tin and an operator has been appointed. With completion of the construction work, the CGS is expected to commence operation in early 2015. It will help strengthen the promotional work in Sha Tin through environmental education and provide logistics support to encourage more public participation in the recycling of glass bottles and other recyclable materials, enabling green living to take root at the community level.
To learn more about waste reduction and the collection points in public places across the territory, please visit the website www.wastereduction.gov.hk or download the mobile app "Waste Less".
Ends/Sunday, December 14, 2014
Issued at HKT 15:00
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