A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) said today (May 19) that the Government strongly supports the development of the recycling industry and has all along been searching for suitable land under short-term tenancy for bidding by the recycling industry for exclusive use. Up till now, 32 short-term tenancy sites have been leased to the recycling industry, covering a total area of 4.8 hectares.

     Upon district-based consultation and open tender, a short-term tenancy site in Dai Kwai Street near Tai Po Industrial Estate with an area of around 5 000 square metres was leased by the Government to a local recycling company for the operation of waste plastic recycling. The site was also previously used for waste recycling and the new term of tenancy after open tender is five years.

     The spokesman said that to ensure that the tenant will properly use the site and protect the environment, the tenancy agreement listed out the conditions and requirements of fire safety and the environmental laws in areas including air quality, noise and wastewater discharge. Among these, the tenant should submit a scheme of fire service installations to the Fire Services Department, and complete the works according to the scheme. In addition, the EPD is now liaising with the tenant on the appropriate extra measures to further enhance the environmental monitoring and performance of the site for recycling industry use. Such measures include constructing a covered area inside the recycling site to store recycling materials, erection of a higher fence along the periphery of the recycling site, restricting the loading and unloading of goods and car parking inside the recycling site, and deploying security guards during night-time and holidays.

     On the recycling material, it is understood that the site involves mainly the recycling of waste plastic bottles. While waste plastic bottles contain PET and HDPE, the storage and melting of plastic bottles do not involve burning processes and so toxic pollutants (such as dioxins) will not be released. Despite this, the tenant has planned to install air purification facilities to deal with possible gas emission during the recycling process to minimise the impact on the surrounding environment. EPD staff will also inspect the site from time to time and the department will strictly enforce the laws if any breach of environmental legislation is found. The EPD will also request as appropriate the Lands Department to take proper follow-up action according to the tenancy terms.

Ends/Friday, May 19, 2017
Issued at HKT 19:00

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