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Following is a question by the Hon James To and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (January 31) :
Question:
An associate professor of a local university has stated in a web blog that recently some Hong Kong businessmen imported to Hong Kong used pachinko machines installed with circuit boards and transistors, which contain toxic heavy metals such as lead and mercury, in the name of old machinery, and workshops have been set up in Yuen Long to dissemble the machinery parts for delivery to the Mainland. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the number of the above pachinko machines that were imported to Hong Kong in the name of used machinery in the past year, and whether it has taken up the matter with the government of the country from which such machines originated;
(b) whether it will consider establishing a mechanism to plug the loopholes through which businessmen import such pachinko machines to Hong Kong in the name of used machinery;
(c) whether it has studied if the acts, including importing pachinko machines, dissembling them and reshipping their parts, of the above-mentioned Hong Kong businessmen has violated the existing laws of Hong Kong; if they have violated the law, of the details including the penalty which may be imposed;
(d) whether it has discovered that the chemical contents, such as lead or other heavy metals, of the above-mentioned workshops have reached a level which may pose a treat to public health; if it has, of the details; and
(e) given that the harmful pollutants of pachinko machines come primarily from circuit boards, whether it has studied if such harmful pollutants are subject to the regulation of the existing laws of Hong Kong; if they are subject to such regulation, of the details; if they are not, whether the Government will enact legislation to regulate the means of disposing circuit boards with harmful pollutants; if it will, of the criteria adopted by the Government for determining the quantity and concentration of the harmful pollutants contained in the circuit boards?
Reply:
Madam President,
In accordance with the Waste Disposal Ordinance (WDO), import or export of controlled waste for any purpose requires a permit from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) in advance. Failure to do so is an offence. Upon conviction, the responsible person is liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and imprisonment for 6 months. Controlled waste under the WDO includes waste listed in the Seventh Schedule; and waste not listed in the Six Schedule of the WDO, such as cathode ray tubes from televisions or computer monitors, used batteries, or components containing mercury or any other toxic heavy metals. The requirements of the WDO are in line with the international Basel Convention on trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste.
(a) In the past year, the EPD carried out more than 500 inspections on control of import and export of waste. Out of these inspections, there were four cases which involved used pachinko or game machines imported from Japan, but no controlled waste was found. The EPD has no statistical figures related to the import of used pachinko or game machines in the past.
Owing to the fact that no controlled waste was found in the used pachinko or game machines imported from Japan, the EPD had not taken these specific cases up with the Japanese government. That said, the EPD has been in close communications with overseas governments, including Japan, on waste import and export control matters and for experience sharing. The most recent one was a meeting with the Japan Ministry of Environment held in Hong Kong in November 2006. The EPD will continue to monitor closely the import of used pachinko or game machines and to liaise with the Japan Ministry of Environment for cooperation on enforcement matters;
(b) The WDO controls "waste" and related matters, it is inappropriate to apply its control over used or second-hand goods. The EPD has issued a guideline to the relevant trades on "Import or export of second hand electrical and electronic appliances and hazardous waste control". The guideline sets out the detailed requirements of the WDO and provides guidelines to help the trade to differentiate waste from second-hand goods. The EPD has uploaded the guideline onto its departmental website for easy reference by the relevant trades. In the event that imported used pachinko or game machines are found to contain any controlled waste, the EPD will follow up and take enforcement actions.
(c) Operation of electronic waste storage sites is subject to control by the relevant environmental legislation; including the Air Pollution Control Ordinance, Noise Control Ordinance, Water Pollution Control Ordinance, Waste Disposal Ordinance and their subsidiary legislations. The EPD has been taking a stern stance against non-compliance and will consider taking prosecution action once an offence is spotted. Maximum penalties under these environmental legislations vary, up to a maximum fine of $200,000 and imprisonment for 6 months. In the past three years, the EPD carried out 1270 inspections and instigated 13 prosecutions on electronic waste storage sites at remote areas in the New Territories. The offenders of all the 13 cases were convicted with fines ranging from $ 2,000 to $ 15,000. On waste import/export control, no offence related to the import of used pachinko or game machines was found in the same period.
(d) In 2005, the EPD collected soil samples from six electronic waste storage sites in Ta Kwu Ling and Hung Lung Hang for analysis of heavy metals including lead. Results revealed that the soil had lead concentrations all below the acceptable level set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for lead in soil for children playing areas, thus not posing unacceptable health risk.
(e) For waste printed circuit boards containing toxic substances to a level that cause pollution or constitute a danger to health, they would be classifiable as chemical waste under the Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation, and their disposal arrangements shall follow the regulatory requirements. The main components of used pachinko or game machines recently imported into Hong Kong were plastic and metals. A small amount of printed circuit boards was found in some shipments but they did not contain toxic metal to the extent to be regarded as controlled waste that amounted to causing pollution or constituting a danger to public health. For every suspected non-compliance case, the EPD would carry out investigation, conduct professional assessment and follow up with enforcement actions, if considered appropriate.
Ends/Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:22
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