Destruction of Hong Kong’s 28-tonne stockpile of seized ivory is complete, officials say, as they eye total ban on the trade

A week after floating a three-step legislative proposal to place a total ban on the domestic trade, conservation officials announced on Wednesday that their 28-tonne stockpile of seized illegal ivory had finally been reduced to ashes and disposed of.

Destruction of the last 1.5-tonne batch of the ivory at the chemical waste treatment plant in Tsing Yi on Wednesday marks the completion of one of the world’s largest ivory destruction projects, involving 20 separate rounds of incineration over 13 months.

Operations began in May 2014 after the government’s Endangered Species Advisory Committee made a U-turn earlier in that year to support incineration of the stockpile. Some members had previously been inclined to keep the ivory for educational purposes.

In the end, about 1.6 tonnes of the 29.6-tonne stockpile was kept for educational, scientific or other purposes as permitted by an international treaty. The rest was cut into 50cm chunks, placed into drums with chemical waste and incinerated in batches.

The city is one of the world’s biggest transit hubs and markets for contraband ivory.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said all forfeited ivory seized in the future would also be disposed of by incineration, but strict enforcement over the years had curbed such illegal hauls.