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Elizabeth Horscroft

When Agnes Chan (not her real name) bought and renovated a 1,600 sqft flat she gutted it.
'I told the contractor to throw everything out. I felt bad, especially when the guy who came to do the floor said he remembered installing the existing wooden floor two years ago. It was nice wood too. I know I should have done something else with it, but what?'
For her and the thousands of other home renovators, starting fresh, with new things, somehow feels like purification.
But judging from Hong Kong's landfills, the only thing pure about throwing out the old and starting fresh, is our intentions.
The government estimates our three landfills will be full by early to mid-2010 and a large percentage of the rubbish is from construction waste (timber and packaging materials) and the 'public fill'(debris, rubble, earth and concrete), and still useable electrical appliances.
Despite the problem, people continue to throw away the contents of their homes before renovation.
Simon Damman, a contractor and director of OzWorks,  said: 'This is a disposable society.' He said that there was virtually no second-hand market for household items.
While we may not like old items, we do love a bargain, according to Mr Damman. He sees so many useable items in the trash that he has considered opening a second-hand shop for items such as bathtubs and basins, taps, fridges and ovens. He discarded the idea due to lack of time, but has offered it to the government as a solution to the landfill problem.
'The government just needs a large depot where people can drop off their things. I know many people who would use it. Most stuff would probably be nearly new,' he said.
He estimated that 70 per cent of Discovery Bay's new Chianti flats were sold and immediately renovated, their owners having bought two flats to knock into one. Most, he said, discarded at least one set of the new household appliances that came with the flats.
Reducing construction waste can save you money, albeit not a lot.
Rubbish truck owners charge contractors (who charge their clients) a flat fee per skip - either HK$1,000 or HK$1,500, depending on the location. An average renovation of a 1,300 sqft flat will take five to 10 skips. Of course, less waste means fewer skips.
Or you could deliver the waste yourself. Disposal charges are HK$125 per tonne at landfills, HK$100 per tonne at sorting facilities and HK$27 per tonne at public fill reception facilities.
The good news for the landfills is that since the Construction Waste Disposal Charging Scheme was introduced in 2006, the average amount of construction waste disposed of has been reduced by 28 per cent (a comparison of 2005 and 2007 figures). Contractors and homeowners are encouraged to make further reductions by separating construction waste at the source. It is cheaper and prevents cross-contamination of waste, which renders it unsuitable for reuse or recycling even with proper off-site sorting afterwards.
There are also those disheartened by wasting useful household appliances. An Environmental Protection Department (EPD) spokesman said: 'About 11,000 tonnes of used electrical appliances were disposed of at landfills last year.' This meant waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) accounted for about 0.3 per cent of total municipal solid waste disposal.
Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong) urges well-meaning renovators to reconsider and keep their appliances. But those set on changing everything can donate, recycle or sell.
Mr Damman said that whatever you decided to do, do it quickly. 'Otherwise it gets in the way and leads workers to treat the entire worksite as a dump.'
Owners often ask contractors to bin everything left behind. 'It is a criminal and wicked way to get rid of appliances,' Mr Damman said.
Thankfully, recycling schemes are on the rise. With brimming landfills and a responsibility to manage their end-of-life products, various industry groups have initiated and funded recycling programmes with the support of the government.
The first voluntary Producer Responsibility Scheme in Hong Kong was launched in April 2005 for rechargeable batteries and was followed by the Computer Recycling Programme. The third, the Fluorescent Lamp Lighting Scheme, began accepting items on April 3 this year.
The EPD spokesman said: 'We encourage the producers and suppliers of other products to introduce similar programmes for the benefit of our environment.'
Friends of the Earth environmental affairs officer Michelle Au  said that to curb pollution, producer responsibility schemes were the way forward and legislation was needed to get the ball rolling.
'In Europe and Japan it is the law that producers of consumer electronics - Samsung, Sony and Toshiba for example - take back [electrical and electronic equipment] waste. But when we ask them why they haven't done it here, they say the government hasn't asked them to,' she said.
The government also runs a WEEE recycling programme in conjunction with St James' Settlement.  The EPD spokesman said the public's response to the WEEE recycling programme was 'good'. The amount of WEEE collected (including fridges, stoves, ovens, air-conditioners, kettles, rice cookers and audio-visual devices) increased from 10,000 units in 2003 to 21,000 units last year.
Donation is easy. St James' Settlement will pick up items less than five years old on Hong Kong Island or in Kowloon. Or bring the e-waste to its service centres.
Alternatively, visit one of the EPD's mobile collection units on Saturdays and Sundays at various locations around Hong Kong. Better quality items will be refurbished and donated to needy families.
Bee Mak Fung-chi,  centre-in-charge of the WEEE programme at St James' Settlement, said the organisation received more than 20,000 units last year but only 4,000 were useable. And the centre had 8,000 requests for various appliances.
The Fluorescent Lamp Lighting Scheme is a bright idea. Fluorescent lamps can be returned to the mobile collection unit in addition to the 52 public collection points set up at shopping malls, chain houseware stores and participating companies' service centres and retail outlets. Collection boxes will also be placed at more than 500 housing estates.
Used computers are needed too. Caritas runs a computer recycling project and is also a beneficiary of about 10 per cent of the better-quality equipment collected through the EPD's computer recycling programme.
A commercial recycler will dismantle computers that cannot be refurbished and recover useful parts and materials.
Donations aside, try selling unwanted appliances. There are streets in Wan Chai, Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po and Wong Tai Sin where e-waste is bought. Ms Au said a cathode-ray tube television should be worth about HK$30 to HK$50, while plasma and liquid-crystal display models would be worth more.
Failing that, advertise on websites and in newspapers, or use the notice board of a local supermarket or club. Above all, be wary of take-back services at big-name retailers. We found only one that could confirm that it recycled. Your old washers and dryers will probably end up in a landfill. Tell your friends you have 'good stuff cheap' and hope the word spreads so that pollution does not.



Think twice before scrapping appliances