Glass recycling contract awarded for Kowloon region
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A spokesman for the EPD said, “The Government has been preparing for the implementation of the producer responsibility scheme (PRS) on glass beverage containers. One of the key tasks is to appoint qualified contractors to provide effective and convenient regional glass container collection and treatment services across the territory.”
The contract awarded is for a five-year term. Under the contract, the Contractor is required to establish within the Kowloon catchment region a network of collection points to facilitate glass container collection from commercial and industrial premises such as pubs and catering services, and also to provide glass container collection services to residential buildings and estates in the catchment region. The Contractor will have a preparatory period of about six months to establish its collection network and set up its glass container treatment facility.
In November 2017, the Government awarded the glass management contracts for Hong Kong Island (including Islands District) and the New Territories regions to provide glass container collection and treatment services to these two regions respectively. With the commencement of the contract for the Kowloon region, glass container recycling services will be made available for the entire territory, thereby underpinning the implementation of the PRS on glass beverage containers. The contractors are also required under the contracts to arrange gainful reuse and recycling of the waste glass containers, including recovery for proper treatment turning them into reusable materials (e.g. as construction materials) and for re-bottling.
The spokesman said, “In addition to the provision of glass container recycling services, the Government is also preparing the subsidiary legislation to set out the regulatory details of the PRS on glass beverage containers and aims to introduce it into the Legislative Council later this year.”
Following the introduction of the PRS on waste electrical and electronic equipment earlier this year, the PRS on glass beverage containers is the second PRS that the Government will implement this year to promote the proper recycling of waste materials and turn them into useful resources. Under the PRS on glass beverage containers, suppliers of glass-bottled beverage products will have to be registered with the EPD as registered suppliers and pay a container recycling levy for glass-bottled beverage products distributed in Hong Kong to fund the glass container recycling services provided by the government appointed contractors, thereby promoting a circular economy.
Ends/Monday, April 30, 2018
Issued at HKT 15:00
Issued at HKT 15:00
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