Incineration key to managing waste
I refer to your editorial ("The rubbish of a waste policy", June 25), which described the sorry state we are in regarding our waste disposal system.
Hong Kong produces 9,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste a day. "Hong Kong Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022", published by the Environment Bureau, informs us that 52 per cent of this waste in Hong Kong is dumped in landfills, as against Taiwan's 2 per cent , Singapore's 1 per cent, and Japan's 0 per cent.
This shows us how backward we are in treating this waste compared to Asia's other advanced economies.
Why do they not dump their municipal solid waste in landfills? The difference is, they have incinerators. Taiwan treats 46 per cent of this waste by incineration, Singapore 51 per cent, and Japan 79 per cent. Hong Kong has 0 per cent incineration. Even worse is that the blueprint's target states that by 2022 we will incinerate just 23 per cent of our waste, while 22 per cent of our municipal solid waste will still be dumped in landfills.
If incinerators are such fearful things, emitting toxic gases, then we would have heard reports of deaths or illness among people living near them in Taiwan, Singapore and Japan.
Modern incinerators emit an insignificant amount of toxic gases.