Baguio Waste Management & Recycling Limited, a waste plastic recycler, mainly recycles polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and then reproduces PE pellets and PET flakes. The lease is commenced on 29 November 2018. The tenant is currently working on plant design and other preparation work.

Rocsky International Limited, a waste paper recycler, will build and operate, on four adjacent lots (about 2 hectares in total) in the EcoPark. It is a local waste paper recycling and manufacturing plant capable of processing 300,000 tonnes of local waste paper a year. This capacity is sufficient to process about one third of the total waste paper recovered in Hong Kong per year (800,000 tonnes according to the 2016 statistics). The waste paper recycling and manufacturing plant will commence design and construction in 2019 and is expected to be put into operation in 2023. The local waste paper collected by the plant will be turned into high-strength corrugated paper, semi-dry pulp and other materials. These products and raw materials will be sold locally and outside Hong Kong.

Study tour of EcoPark was conducted by the Education Bureau on 23 November 2018. Information about the EcoPark and WEEE．Park was presented. Tours to visitor centre in EcoPark, WEEE．Park, the treatment and recycling facility for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and K.Wah Construction Products Limited, a tenant recycling waste glass and construction waste into recycled blocks and pavers, were also arranged.

The FSE Group and BOCHK visited EcoPark on 13 December 2018. Information about the EcoPark was presented. Apart from a tour of the EcoPark visitor centre, a bus tour around EcoPark was also arranged so as to enable the visitors to have quick glance of recycling plant of tenants. The visitors visited the WEEE．Park to understand how WEEE are properly treated and recycled.

Plastic-free and go green

The ever-increasing amount of plastic waste is a pressing problem that needs to be addressed. In the past three years, an average of over 2,000 tonnes of waste plastics were disposed of at landfills every day, constituting about 20% of the total municipal solid waste generated in Hong Kong Of the plastics discarded, one-tenth was bottles and another one-tenth was disposable tableware. As the cost of handling of plastic waste is high and Mainland’s ban on import of household plastic waste that took effect in January 2018, the local recycling industry face tremendous challenge. The Government is pushing ahead with waste reduction through a multi-pronged approach including a Pilot Scheme on Collection and Recycling of Waste Plastics and introduction of a producer responsibility system. Meanwhile, a study on the regulation of disposable plastic tableware in different places has been commenced to help Hong Kong find a suitable option to go plastic-free. All in all, reduction at source is the most effective solution to the problem of plastic waste, and support of the community at large is of paramount importance.  We can all cut back on plastics and one-use items.