This section identifies the potential wastes arising from the
construction of the Project and potential environmental impacts associated with
the handling and disposal of waste which are assessed in accordance with the
criteria presented in Annexes 7 and 15 of the EIAO-TM, which are summarised as follows:
·
Evaluate
opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle waste;
·
Estimate
the types and quantities of the wastes to be generated; and
·
Assess
the secondary environmental impacts due to the management of waste with respect
to potential hazards, air and odour emissions, noise, wastewater discharges and
traffic.
8.2
Legislation
Requirements and Evaluation Criteria
The following legislation covers, or has some bearing upon, the
handling, treatment and disposal of wastes in
·
Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap 354);
·
Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General)
Regulation (Cap 354C);
·
Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance
(Cap 28); and
·
Public Health and Municipal Services
Ordinance (Cap 132) - Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances Regulation.
8.2.1
Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap 354)
The Waste Disposal Ordinance (WDO)
prohibits the unauthorised disposal of wastes, with waste defined as any
substance or article, which is abandoned.
Under the WDO, wastes can only
be disposed of at a licensed site. A
breach of these regulations can lead to the imposition of a fine and/or a
prison sentence. The WDO also provides for the issuing of
licences for the collection and transport of wastes. Licences are not, however, currently
issued for the collection and transport of construction waste or trade waste.
The Waste
Disposal (Charges for Disposal of Construction Waste) Regulation defined
construction waste as any substance, matters or things that is generated from
construction work and abandoned, whether or not it has been processed or
stockpiled before being abandoned, but does not include any sludge, screening
or matter removed in or generated from any desludging,
desilting or dredging works.
The Construction Waste Disposal Charging Scheme came
into operation on 1 December 2005.
Processing of account applications by the EPD started on the same
day. A contractor who undertakes
construction work with value of HK$1 million or above is required to open a
billing account solely for the contract.
Charging for the disposal of construction waste started on 20 January
2006.
Depending on the percentage of inert materials in the material, construction
waste can be disposed of at public fill, sorting facilities, landfills and
outlying islands transfer facilities, where differing disposal costs would be
applied. The scheme encourages
waste reduction so that the contractor or Project Proponent can minimise their
costs. Table 8.2a summarises the Government’s construction waste disposal
facilities, the types of waste accepted and disposal the associated costs.
Table 8.2a Government
Waste Disposal Facilities for Construction Waste
|
Government Waste Disposal Facilities |
Type of Construction Waste Accepted |
Charge Per Tonne |
|
Public
fill reception facilities |
Consisting
entirely of inert construction waste |
$27 |
|
Sorting
facilities |
Containing
more than 50% by weight of inert construction waste |
$100 |
|
Landfills
|
Containing
not more than 50% by weight of inert construction waste |
$125 |
|
Outlying |
Containing
any percentage of inert construction waste |
$125 |
|
Note: (a)
Including the Hei
Ling Chau Refuse Transfer Station at the northern
part of the |
||
8.2.2
Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General)
Regulation
Chemical waste as defined under the Waste
Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation includes any substance being
scrap material, or unwanted substances specified under Schedule 1 of the Regulation,
if such a substance or chemical occurs in such a form, quantity or
concentration so as to cause pollution or constitute a danger to health or risk
of pollution to the environment.
Chemical waste producers shall register with the
Environmental Protection Department (EPD).
Any person who contravenes this requirement commits an offence and is
liable to a fine and imprisonment.
Producers of chemical wastes must treat their wastes, utilising on-site
plant licensed by the EPD or have a licensed collector take the wastes to a
licensed facility. For each
consignment of wastes, the waste producer, collector and disposer of the wastes
must sign all relevant parts of a computerised trip ticket. The system is designed to allow the
transfer of wastes to be traced from cradle-to-grave.
The Regulation prescribes the
storage facilities to be provided on site including labelling and warning
signs. To minimise the risks of
pollution and danger to human health or life, the waste producer is required to
prepare and make available written procedures to be observed in the case of
emergencies due to spillage, leakage or accidents arising from the storage of
chemical wastes. He/she must also
provide employees with training in such procedures.
8.2.3
Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance
(Cap 28)
The inert portion of construction waste ([1]) (also called public fill) may be taken to
public filling areas. Public
filling areas usually form part of land reclamation schemes and are operated by
the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD). The Land
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance requires that individuals or companies
who deliver public fill to the public filling areas obtain Dumping
Licences. The licences are issued
by the CEDD under delegated authority from the Director of Lands.
Individual licences and windscreen stickers are issued for each vehicle
involved. Under the licence
conditions, public filling areas will accept only inert building debris, soil,
rock and broken concrete. There is
no size limit on rock and broken concrete, and a small amount of timber mixed
with inert material is permissible.
The material should, however, be free from marine mud, household refuse,
plastic, metal, industrial and chemical wastes, animal and vegetable matter and
any other materials considered unsuitable by the public filling supervisor.
8.2.4
Public Cleansing and Prevention of
Nuisances Regulation
This Regulation
provides further control on the illegal dumping of wastes on unauthorised
(unlicensed) sites. The illegal
dumping of wastes can lead to a fine and/or imprisonment.
8.2.5
Other Relevant Guidelines
Other 'guideline' documents, which detail
how the project proponent or contractor should comply with the local
regulations, are as follows:
·
Waste Disposal Plan for Hong Kong (December 1989), Planning, Environment
and Lands Branch Government Secretariat,
·
Environmental Guidelines for Planning In
Hong Kong (1990), Hong
Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, Hong Kong Government;
·
New Disposal Arrangements for Construction
Waste (1992), EPD &
CED,
·
Code of Practice on the Packaging,
Labelling and Storage of Chemical Wastes (1992), EPD,
·
Environment,
Transport and Works Bureau (ETWB) Technical Circular (Works) No. 19/2005, Environmental Management on Construction
Sites, Hong Kong SAR;
·
Works Branch Technical Circular (WBTC) No.
32/92, The Use of Tropical Hard Wood on Construction Site; Works Branch,
·
WBTC No. 2/93, Public Dumps. Works Branch,
·
WBTC No. 2/93B, Public Filling Facilities, Works Branch,
·
Waste Reduction Framework Plan, 1998 to
2007, Planning,
Environment and Lands Bureau, Government Secretariat, 5 November 1998;
·
WBTC Nos. 25/99, 25/99A and
25/99C, Incorporation of Information on Construction and Demolition Material
Management in Public Works Sub-committee Papers; Works Bureau,
·
WBTC No. 12/2000, Fill Management; Works Bureau,
·
ETWBTC No. 33/2002, Management of
Construction and Demolition Material Including Rock; Environment,
Transport and Works Bureau,
·
ETWBTC No. 31/2004, Trip Ticket System for
Disposal of Construction & Demolition Materials, Environment, Transport and Works Bureau,
8.3
Expected Waste
Arisings During the
Construction Phase
During the construction phase, the main activities, which will
potentially result in the generation of waste, include site clearance,
foundation construction, minor slope works along the existing access road (ie the long access route), construction of a temporary
access route (ie, the short access route) and
erection of the wind turbine. The
typical waste types associated with these activities include:
·
construction
waste;
·
chemical
waste;
·
sewage;
and
·
general
refuse.
8.4.1
Construction Waste
The proposed Project Site is currently used by the CSD’s contractor for the temporary storage of construction materials
and equipment (see Figure 3.1b). It is anticipated that the contractor
will remove the temporary structures and equipment before handing over the site
to CAPCO. Nevertheless, site
clearance will still be required before site formation can commence. The site clearance waste mainly
comprises vegetation, general refuse and a small quantity of concrete. Approximately 300 m3
(approximately 30 tonnes) of site clearance waste will be generated within a
month.
Minor slope works will also be required along some
sections of the long access route (see Figure 3.3a) and for the construction of
the temporary platform and steel bridge for the short access route. A small quantity (less than 50 m3
to be generated within a month) of site clearance waste will be generated from
these works. The site clearance
waste will be transported to the Hei Ling Chau Refuse Transfer Station for subsequent disposal at the
WENT Landfill. As the waste
quantity is small, it is not anticipated that it will cause an adverse impact
to the normal operation of the Hei Ling Chau Refuse Transfer Station which has a design daily
throughput of 5 tonnes for construction waste and 10 tonnes for municipal solid
waste (MSW). Currently the refuse
transfer station is handling about 4 to 5 tonnes of MSW.
Approximately 3,000 m3 of excavated soil
will be generated from the minor slope works. Approximately 600 m3 of the
excavated soil will be reused to reprofile some slopes
along the long access route. The
remainder of the excavated soil will be used to form the Project Site. No surplus excavated soil will be
disposed off-site.
The construction of the temporary steel platform and bridge for the
short access route will generate a negligible amount of construction
waste.
The Project site (about 54m ´ 100m) will be paved with concrete. A concrete base (about 9m ´ 9 m) will be constructed to form the base
of the wind turbine which will be constructed by assembling pre-fabricated
steel units (3 sections) or pre-cast concrete units. It is estimated that no more than 50 m3
of inert construction waste (or public fill) will be generated over a period of
4 months (on average less than 0.5 m3 per day). The public fill will either be
transported to the Hei Ling Chau
Refuse Transfer Station or by a dedicated barge to the public filling
facilities (eg the Public Filling Area in Tuen Mun Area 38) for reuse.
In view of the relatively small scale of the Project and the nature of
the construction activities, potential secondary environmental (i.e. noise,
odour, dust, water quality and hazard) and road and marine traffic impacts
arising from the handling and disposal of the construction waste will be
minimal. Provided good construction
practices are implemented, it is not anticipated that the activities will cause
adverse environmental impacts.
Recommended good construction practices are described in Section 8.5.
The disposal of a small quantity of construction waste at the Hei Ling Chau Refuse Transfer
Station will not have an adverse impact to the operation of the facility.
8.4.2
Chemical Wastes
Chemical waste, as defined under the Waste
Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation, includes any unwanted substances
specified under Schedule 1 of the Regulation. Substances likely to be generated from
the construction of the Project may include:
·
Residual
paints and solvents; and
·
Used
lubricant oil from maintenance of the construction plant.
With respect to the
small scale of the construction activities, it is anticipated that the quantity
of chemical waste to be generated will be small (in the order of a few hundred
litres for whole construction phase).
These chemical waste will be stored and disposed of in an appropriate
manner, as outlined in the Waste Disposal
(Chemical Waste) (General) Regulation and the Code of Practice on the Packaging, Labelling and Storage of Chemical
Wastes.
8.4.3
Sewage
Sewage will arise from the construction workforce. It is estimated that a maximum of about
40 workers will be working at the site at any one time. The amount of sewage to be generated
will be about 1 m3 per day.
An adequate number of portable toilets will be provided at the site to
ensure that sewage from site staff is properly collected. The portable toilets will be desludged and maintained regularly by a licensed
contractor. No adverse
environmental impacts are envisaged.
8.4.4
General Refuse
General refuse will be generated by the workforce. It is expected that the site staff will
bring their own lunch or have lunch at the CSD canteen, and the quantity of
general refuse (mainly consisting of food waste, aluminium cans and waste
paper) to be generated from the site staff will therefore be small (in the order
of 26 kg per day). Recyclable
materials (ie paper, plastic bottles and aluminium
cans) will be separated for recycling, in order to reduce the amount of general
refuse to be disposed of at landfill.
The non-recyclable refuse will be placed in bags and stored in enclosed
bins, and disposed of on a daily basis.
This will avoid the occurrence of wind blown litter, odour, water
quality impacts and vermin nuisance.
The general refuse will be transported to the Hei
Ling Chau Refuse Transfer Station for disposal. No adverse environmental impact is
envisaged.
Given that the quantity of general refuse to be disposed of at the Hei Ling Chau Refuse Transfer
Station is small, no adverse impact on the operation of the station is
anticipated.
8.5
Mitigation Measures
The assessment indicates that with the implementation of the proposed
waste management practices at the work sites, no adverse environmental impacts
are envisaged for the handling, collection and disposal of waste arising from the
construction of the Project. No
mitigation measures will be required.
This section further describes the good construction site practices to
avoid or further reduce the potential environmental impacts associated with the
handling, collection and disposal of construction and chemical wastes arising
from the construction of the Project.
The Contractor must ensure that all the necessary waste disposal permits
or licences are obtained prior to the commencement of the construction works.
8.5.1
Construction Waste
Wherever practicable, the excavated soil will be segregated from other
wastes to avoid contamination, and reused on-site for the site formation works
to reduce the amount of construction waste to be disposed off-site.
The Contractor will ensure that no waste, spoil or excavated materials
arising from the Project will be improperly dumped in the
8.5.2
Chemical Waste
The construction contractor will be registered as a chemical waste
producer with the EPD. Chemical
waste will be handled in accordance with the Code of Practice on the Packaging, Handling and Storage of Chemical
Wastes.
8.5.3
Management of Waste Disposal
The construction contractor will open a billing account with the EPD in
accordance with the Waste Disposal
(Charges for Disposal of Construction Waste) Regulation. Every construction waste or public fill
load to be transferred to the Hei Ling Chau Refuse Transfer Station will require a valid
“chit”.
A trip-ticket system will also be established in accordance with Works Bureau Technical Circular No.31/2004
to monitor the disposal of construction waste at the Hei
Ling Chau Refuse Transfer Station, and to control
fly-tipping. The trip-ticket system
will be included as one of the contractual requirements and implemented by the
contractor.
At
the commencement of the construction works, training will be provided to workers
on the concepts of site cleanliness and on appropriate waste management
procedures, including waste reduction, reuse and recycling.
8.6
Residual
Environmental Impacts
No residual waste management impact is envisaged after the completion of
the Project construction works.
8.7
Environmental
Monitoring and Audit
It is recommended that monthly audits of the waste management practices
be carried out during the construction phase to determine if wastes are being
managed in accordance with the good site practices described in this EIA
Report. The audits should examine
all aspects of waste management including waste generation, storage, recycling,
transport and disposal.
The anticipated quantities of construction waste, chemical wastes,
sewage and general refuse to be generated during the Project construction phase
will be small. With the
implementation of general good construction site practices, the construction of
the Project will not cause adverse waste management or environmental impacts.