Hong Kong's first community green station takes shape in Sha Tin
New HK$20.5 million development will boost recycling and educate the community
The city's first community green station aims to help prevent items of little value from going to bulging landfills and instead show residents how they can be recycled and get a second life.
The Sha Tin Community Green Station is taking shape near Shek Mun MTR station and will be fully operational this summer. It is the first of 18 such facilities - one for each district - that were announced by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in his policy address last year.
Unlike most recycling centres, the station will focus on categorising waste and sending it to licensed recyclers or reusing it in educational workshops.
And instead of the paper, metals and plastics collected at the city's 1,985 recycling points, it will take items such as small electrical appliances, fluorescent lamps and glass bottles, with a truck visiting housing estates each week to collect material.
Previously, "the cost per tonne [of collecting such material] was high and it was hard to find resources to expand services," said Samson Lai Yiu-kei, assistant director of the Environmental Protection Department.
The station is operated by the Christian Family Service Centre, a local NGO with experience in glass recycling and environmental education, on a three-year contract from the government.
Kitty Chau Shuk-king, programme director for the centre, said 21 private estates had joined a pilot recycling scheme for electrical appliances since the Lunar New Year. The appliances are sent to a recycling centre run by St James' Settlement.
The centre will be in full operation in summer when glass collection is added.
"For glass, we hope to use it for our workshops," Chau said. Glass will also be sent to recyclers to produce eco-bricks.
The hope is that the station's services will be extended to schools and public housing.
The station is a showcase for green design. The HK$20.5 million building incorporates 14 shipping containers, as well as large windows and a high roof.
"Use of wind and natural light can be enhanced. Air conditioners are no longer needed," said senior government architect Thomas Wan Chuck-kwan.
Plans for stations in 11 districts are progressing so far, with one in Eastern District due for completion this year, and work on stations in Kwun Tong and Yuen Long starting soon.
