Hong Kong, 4 December 2018 － The Environment Bureau announced in November 2018 that municipal solid waste charging would be implemented by late 2020 at the earliest, hoping that the necessary financial incentive will drive behavioural and cultural changes leading to waste reduction and recycling. In order to establish the first-ever benchmarking reference of waste reduction and recycling, and assist the government in evaluating the effectiveness of waste-related policies, Business Environment Council (“BEC”) launched the 3-year BEC Jockey Club Intelligent Resource Management Programme (the Programme) in August 2018 which will set up a smart waste monitoring system at 200 participating office buildings, private housing estates and schools in town to collect waste and recyclables data using cloud technology and implement education activities. The Programme is funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.
Among the officiating guests at the launching ceremony today were Mr K.W. Fong, Assistant Director (Waste Reduction & Recycling), Environmental Protection Department; Ms Vivian Lee, Senior Charities Manager of The Hong Kong Jockey Club; Mr Adam Koo, Chief Executive Officer of BEC; and Ir C.F. Leung, Director – Operations of BEC.
“According to the government’s Hong Kong Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022, Hong Kong ranks amongst the top cities in terms of daily municipal solid waste generation per capita. Amid the implementation of different waste-related policies and action plans by the government, Hong Kong needs a benchmarking reference of waste disposal and recyclables for different building types to evaluate waste management performance and provide a reference for the waste charging scheme. The result of BEC Jockey Club Intelligent Resource Management Programme will fill in the missing gaps to inform future waste reduction strategy. On behalf of BEC, we thank The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for funding this meaningful programme, and the Environmental Protection Department for being a supporting organisation.” Mr Adam Koo, Chief Executive Officer of BEC said in his opening remarks.
The Programme consists of two parts. The first part involves implementation of a smart waste management system and data analysis. BEC will install a waste measurement system with RFID technology at participating premises and waste and recyclables data will be transmitted to the cloud platform daily. Data will be collected to calculate the waste intensity (i.e. amount of waste produced per capita) and recycling rate (i.e. percentage of recyclables collected out of total waste). BEC will also develop a publicly accessible waste and resource recycling benchmark tool so that interested parties can easily understand their waste performance compared with their counterparts.
The second part of the Programme is waste reduction and recycling education. BEC will help enhance the recycling facilities of the participants, conduct waste audits, develop a waste audit methodology guide to provide a useful reference for the buildings and various education activities including promotional booths, Green Drama Show, Mobile Green Classroom, training workshops and seminars. Best practices of outstanding premises will be shared among participants.
BEC now invites interest parties in the property management sector (office/ residential) and schools (primary/ secondary) to participate in the BEC Jockey Club Intelligent Resource Management Programme. For more information, please visit https://www.bec.org.hk/.
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About Business Environment Council Limited 商界環保協會有限公司
Business Environment Council Limited 商界環保協會有限公司 (“BEC”) is an independent, charitable membership organisation, established by the business sector in Hong Kong. Since its establishment in 1992, BEC has been at the forefront of promoting environmental excellence by advocating the uptake of clean technologies and practices which reduce waste, conserve resources, prevent pollution and improve corporate environmental and social responsibility. BEC offers sustainable solutions and professional services covering advisory, research, assessment, training and award programmes for government, business and the community, thus enabling environmental protection and contributing to the transition to a low carbon economy.