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The revised Waste Acceptance Criteria (the Criteria) for the disposal of construction waste at sorting facilities and landfills under the Waste Disposal (Designated Waste Disposal Facility) Regulation, Chapter 354L, will come into effect next Wednesday (December 29). The revised Criteria were gazetted in July 2010 after consultation with the relevant trades.
"To improve the efficacy of construction waste load handling and disposal at the sorting facilities and landfills, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has introduced the revised Waste Acceptance Criteria, which also includes the waste depth in addition to the weight ratio," said a spokesman for the EPD today (December 22).
To encourage waste minimisation, separation of waste and reuse of recyclable inert materials, construction waste is disposed of at public fill reception facilities, sorting facilities, landfills or transfer facilities at outlying islands according to their waste content at differential charges. A vehicle carrying construction waste that comprises entirely inert materials should go to a public fill reception facility (which attracts the lowest charge of $27 per tonne) where the inert materials will be used more easily. If inert materials make up more than half of the load's weight, then it should go to a sorting facility at $100 per tonne, where recyclables will be sorted for reuse. Finally, if inert materials weigh less than half the load, then it should go to a landfill at $125 per tonne for disposal. The purpose of the Criteria is to determine whether a load of construction waste should be delivered to a sorting facility or a landfill for disposal. Under the above mentioned regulation, the Government is required to regularly review the Criteria to ensure that they achieve the intended effect of diverting construction waste to the most suitable facility.
After the implementation of the revised Criteria, if the waste depth of a vehicle load of construction waste exceeds 1 metre for demountable vehicles or 1.5 metres for non-demountable vehicles, then the vehicle is required to deliver the construction waste to a landfill irrespective of weight ratio. If the waste depth does not exceed the defined level, then the required disposal facility will depend on the weight ratio as the current practice applies.
The spokesman said that the key stakeholders including waste hauler associations, construction industry and relevant government departments had been thoroughly consulted since December 2009. The revised Criteria were fully endorsed by the trade in June 2010 before being gazetted.
"Dry runs involving the construction industry and haulers have been carried out at the various disposal facilities since early November this year to help the trade become familiar with the operation of the revised Criteria and to fine-tune the logistic arrangements," the spokesman added.
In November and December, the EPD organised 12 seminars to brief key stakeholders on the revised Criteria. These seminars were well attended by more than 500 representatives from over 300 companies. To further remind the trade and public, EPD has launched a series of promotional activities including putting up banners and distributing information leaflets at the relevant disposal facilities. A video on the revised Criteria is available at EPD's website (www.epd.gov.hk).
Inert materials refer to rock, rubble, boulder, earth, soil, sand, concrete, asphalt, brick, tile, masonry or used bentonite. Non-inert materials include packaging, metals, wood, bamboo, plants and other organic materials.
Ends/Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:13
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