Waste Management

1. Waste Management By Song Huadong Wakeford Amy Beth Siu Lok Luk Ka Ying Liru Wang

2. Sector – Waste Reasons for choosing waste as our sector: • International Scale Agenda 21 – Chapter 21 of Agenda 21 states that “environmentally sound management of wastes was among the environmental issues of major concern in maintaining the quality of the Earth environment.” (Agenda 21, para 21.1) 2. National Scale Sustainable Development Council – Hong Kong Waste management is one of the three main pilot areas the SDC – HK will focus on.

3. 3. Local Scale In Explore Sai Kung (Community Issues), SK residents voiced their opinion about waste: *Many residents want to be responsible and recycle, but there are inadequate facilities. *Some residents think that the corporate community should take some responsibility too. *They are concerned about the trash left by tourists and the state of the waterfront. Sai Kung Residents

4. Sai Kung – The scope • Our area of focus is on Sai Kung only, EXCLUDING Tseung Kwan O • In this project we are going to focus only on MSW ( domestic, commercial and industrial waste only) • We want to focus on Sai Kung only because: • the population concentration of Tseung Kwan O is much higher than other parts of Sai Kung; • the waste production in Tsueng Kwan O is obviously higher than in Sai Kung because of the larger population; and • the landscape and environment is very different in both places.

5. Scope - Map of Sai Kung (Excluding Tseung Kwan O) 4 Study Areas in Sai Kung: 1. Sea 2. Country Parks 3. Village clusters 4. Sai Kung Town Centre Town Centre

6. The Scope - Map of Sai Kung Town Centre 4 Study Areas in Sai Kung: 1. Sea 2. Country Parks 3. Village clusters 4. Sai Kung Town Centre

7. Baseline Conditions • Local Population (in 2001 Population Census) • Total Population in Sai Kung: 327,689 (4.9% out of whole territory) • Population excluding Tseung Kwan O: 37,594 (0.6% out of whole Sai Kung)

8. How much waste is produced? Table 1: Amount of waste generated in Hong Kong Table 2: Amount of waste generated in Sai Kung

9. Amount of waste produced in the 4 areas • As there is no specific information on the population statistics and amount of waste produced in each of our study areas, we assume that most of the population is located in the villages and town centre and therefore these areas have a higher waste production.

10. Who are the MSW producers in the 4 areas? 1. Sea a. Tourists b. Residents c. Small businesses d. Fishing Industry 2. Country Parks a. Tourists (campers and hikers) 3. Village Clusters a. Residents b. Small businesses c. Farmers

11. Who are the MSW producers in the 4 areas? 4. Sai Kung Town Centre • Residents • Tourists • Business sector – restaurants, shops, bars, government offices • Industries – construction, shipyards, paint manufacturers, marina • Schools

12. What type of waste is produced? 1. Sea • plastic, food, aluminum cans 2. Country Parks • plastic, food, aluminum cans 3. Village Clusters food waste, plastic, alumnium cans, paper, clothing, furniture, electronics, batteries, cardboard, glass, vegetation waste.

13. What type of waste is produced? 4. Sai Kung Town Centre a. Residents - food waste, plastic, aluminium cans, paper, clothing, furniture, electronics, batteries, cardboard, glass b. Tourists -plastic, food waste, aluminum cans c. Business Sector - paper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum cans, glass, food waste, styrofoam d. Industries - plastic, food waste, aluminum cans, paper (excluding chemical and construction and demolition waste) e. Schools – paper, food waste, aluminum cans, styrofoam, cardboard, plastic

14. Results of our questionnaire Residents • Most residents throw out 1 bag of garbage each day. • Most of them don’t recycle as its inconvenient. Restaurants • Most restaurants throw out 1 to big bags on weekdays and up to 6 big bags on the weekend. • They recycle aluminum cans and paper that the local pickers and private companies collect from them. Local pickers - Collect about 10 to 20 bags of recyclable materials each week • Collect paper, plastic and aluminum cans

15. Environmental Impacts • Air – smell and minimal methane, hydrogen sulfide and ammonium production from rotting food – Garbage trucks (diesel) 2. Land – burden on landfill sites and leaching from garbage cans. 3. Noise – garbage trucks and collection 4. Biodiversity – in the country parks animals become dependent on food waste. 5. Poor visual appearance of land and seascape

16. Economic Impact • Jobs – more waste, more jobs for collection. • Income – local pickers can make money from recycables. • Residents and businesses – not directly affected because they don’t have to pay for the waste they generate. • Tourism and businesses – appearance of Sai Kung affects tourism. • Private waste collectors - contracts

17. Social Impact • Waste can cause hygeine problems • Aesthetic value – people prefer a cleaner environment (what looks nice) • Convenience – an easy way of disposing waste. • Local pickers – less people recycle the more profit they can make.

18. Political Impact • Waste management in Sai Kung is controlled by the Government. • Therefore the most efficient and cost effective waste disposal and collection system is better for them. • The government is responsible for developing and controlling the waste management system.

19. Stakeholders • Environmental – Friends of Tai Long Wan, Friends of the earth, The Conservancy Association, • Economic – local businesses (shops, restaurants, bars, tourists, water and recreation providers, fishing industry, private waste and recycling collectors • Social – residents, local pickers, tourists • Political – government departments involved – FEHD, AFCD, EPD, SKLC

20. Waste generators Waste collection points – refuse bins and recycling collection bins FEHD and local pickers Refuse Transfer stations Government Depts. And private collectors Landfill or recycling companies or exported Relationship between stakeholders Local Pickers

21. Hong Kong’s Current Waste Management Practice • A. Our MSW management system relies on three large, strategic landfills together with a network of refuse transfer stations (RTSs) and collection services provided by both the Government and private sector . • B. A voluntary recycling scheme is also in place which depends highly on local pickers to achieve the high rate of 40% recovery rate. However even with such a high recovery rate our current system is far from sustainable!

22. Sai Kung’s current waste management practice • FEHD and private companies – collect waste from refuse bins and refuse collection points once a day. • FEHD, LCSD and private collectors – empty the recycling bins. • The waste from the refuse bins and refuse collection points are then sent to the SENT landfill.

23. Public Refuse Collection Points (RCP) • Locations: • Sai Kung Market • Sports Center • Village • Car parks

24. Recycling Collection Points in Sai Kung • Distribution in Sai Kung 1. Sea 2. Country Parks 3. Outlying Islands 4. Village clusters 5. Sai Kung Town Center

25. Our aim: Achieve sustainable waste management in Sai Kung • Wastes from the 4 areas reduced by: • Recycling • new technolgies • education Burden to landfill is relieved 1. Sea Sorted wastes Lower the wastes output Sorted wastes 2. Country Parks 4. Sai Kung Town Centre Landfill site Sorted wastes 3. Village clusters Provide enough facilities for sorting, composting trial scheme, education etc Recycling plants, technology for food wastes transformation into organic fuels etc.