Author Archives: hksar gov

     â€‹The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, today (November 1) appointed or re-appointed the following persons as Board members of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society Limited for a period of two years, until the conclusion of the Society’s Annual General Meeting in 2020.

Ms Karen Chan Ka-yin* 
Dr Allen Fung Yuk-lun*
Mr Andy Kwok Wing-leung
Mrs Mabel Lee May-bo*
Ms Winnie Tam Wan-chi*
Dr John Yeung Hin-chung

(*new appointees) read more

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD)’s first organic resources recovery centre, O∙PARK1, started receiving food waste in July 1 this year. Currently, more than 40 commercial and industrial (C&I) organisations deliver over 100 tonnes of food waste per day to O∙PARK1 for recycling. The EPD today (November 1) held a pledging ceremony to commend the participating C&I organisations for practising food waste separation at source and delivering their collected food waste to O∙PARK1 for turning it into energy.

     Speaking at the pledging ceremony, the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, said that O∙PARK1 uses advanced anaerobic digestion and composting technologies to convert food waste into biogas for power generation. In addition to being the first organic resources recovery centre in Hong Kong to convert food waste to electricity, O∙PARK1 is also one of the largest facilities of its kind in Asia, marking a new milestone in Hong Kong’s journey of turning waste into energy.  

     Mr Wong said that the Government will continue to promote the Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign to encourage members of the public to cherish food and reduce waste at source. At the same time, as the food production process inevitably produces various types of food waste, the Government will develop a network of organic resources recovery centres in phases and adopt new technologies to recycle food waste into renewable energy and other useful materials, and explore utilising existing and future sewage treatment plants to improve the overall food waste treatment capacity by making use of food waste/sewage sludge anaerobic co-digestion technology.

     Mr Wong said he was pleased to note that today’s event was joined by more than 100 stakeholders. Furthermore, he noted that many C&I organisation representatives have also expressed their intention to deliver unused food waste to O∙PARK1 for treatment. He said this proves that members of different sectors are very supportive of the concept of “Food Wise Synergy, Waste-to-Energy”. He also called for the participation of other C&I organisations to support the operation of O∙PARK1 and jointly reduce waste and carbon emissions. 

     Located at Siu Ho Wan in North Lantau, O∙PARK1 is a self-sustainable food waste recycling facility. Apart from generating heat and power for internal use, it is estimated that about 14 million kWh of surplus electricity, an equivalent of the energy consumption of about 3 000 households, can be generated by O∙PARK1. It is also estimated that some 25 000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced each year. In addition, O∙PARK1 also helps the recycling of resources by generating about 6 500 tonnes of compost per year as a by-product.  

     Since the operation of O∙PARK1 commenced, more than 8 000 tonnes of food waste have already been treated and its treatment capacity will gradually increase. At present, O∙PARK1 treats more than 100 tonnes of food waste per day. Upon its full commissioning, the plant’s capacity will gradually increase to 200 tonnes per day. 

     At today’s ceremony, representatives of some supporting organisations also shared details of their experience in practising food waste separation and collection and delivery of food waste to O∙PARK1 for recycling. They stressed that close collaboration between food waste producers, property management companies, cleaning contractors and food waste collectors is the key to the successful implementation of separating food waste at source. In addition, they said that adequate training for management and front line staff is also essential.

     Other officiating guests at today’s ceremony included the Chairman of the Panel on Environmental Affairs of the Legislative Council, Dr Junius Ho; the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Recycling Fund, Mr Jimmy Kwok; the Head of the Department of Biology of Hong Kong Baptist University, Professor Jonathan Wong; Vice Chairman of the Association of Restaurant Managers, Mr Tony Tam; and the President and Honorary Chairman of the Hong Kong Waste Disposal Industry Association, Mr Thomas Tam. read more

     As the Strong Wind Signal No. 3 is now in force, the flag-lowering ceremony to be conducted at Golden Bauhinia Square, Wan Chai at 6pm today (November 1) will be cancelled. read more

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations, Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:      The Tourism Commission announces that due to the issuing of Tropical Cyclone W… read more

     The Transport Department (TD) today (November 1) announced the implementation details of the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme. The Scheme will be implemented with effect from January 1, 2019, to relieve the fare burden of daily commuters who travel by local public transport and whose public transport expenses are relatively high.
      
     A spokesman for the TD said that the Scheme is simple and easy to understand, and commuters are not required to submit any application for the Scheme or pre-register their Octopus. Under the Scheme, commuters with monthly public transport expenses exceeding $400 are eligible for the public transport fare subsidy. The Government will provide a subsidy for 25 per cent of the actual public transport expenses in excess of $400, subject to a maximum of $300 per month. 
      
     The Scheme covers the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), franchised buses, green minibuses, ferries and trams, as well as designated routes of red minibuses, kaitos, non-franchised buses providing residents’ services and employees’ services approved by the TD. For red minibuses, residents’ services, employees’ services and kaitos, the logo of the Scheme will be displayed atop the Octopus readers and at the vehicles/vessels that have been approved to join the Scheme.
      
     The spokesman noted that under the Scheme, commuters can continue to benefit from various public transport fare concession schemes currently provided by the Government and public transport operators, and the subsidy for each month will be calculated on the basis of the actual monthly public transport expenses recorded on each Octopus.
      
     Daily public transport expenses paid by Octopus will be recorded automatically. Commuters who purchase designated transport tickets by cash or any payment means other than Octopus can go through a simple registration process to link up relevant expenses with Octopus records for calculation of total public transport expenses and the subsidy amount under the Scheme.
      
     Commuters can collect the public transport fare subsidy for January 2019 starting from February 16, 2019. The method for collection is simple. Commuters can collect the public transport fare subsidy for the previous month by tapping their Octopus at the Subsidy Collection Points set up at each MTR station, Light Rail Customer Service Centre and designated ferry pier; the Octopus readers of any outlet of convenience stores including 7-Eleven and Circle K, as well as Wellcome supermarkets; the Octopus App; or Octopus Service Points. The subsidy will then be credited to the Octopus. The subsidy for each month is valid for collection within three months.
      
     Commuters can collect the subsidy for the previous month from the 16th of each month through the same channels from then onwards.
      
     Details of the Scheme are available at the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme website (www.ptfss.gov.hk). For further queries, please call 1823.    read more