Future Landfill Development in Hong Kong
At present, over 5 million tonnes of waste are disposed of each year in our three strategic landfills, namely the West New Territories (WENT) Landfill at Tuen Mun, the North-east New Territories (NENT) Landfill at Ta Kwu Ling, and the South-east New Territories (SENT) Landfill at Tseung Kwan O.
Waste prevention and recycling have always been our main focus in tackling the waste problem. However, our estimate is that with the current economic situation, even with the achievement of our waste recycling targets and the successful development of appropriate large-scale waste-to-energy facilities, there will still be significant amount of inert materials, un-recyclable wastes, construction waste and post-treatment residues requiring disposal at landfills.
As the WENT and NENT Landfills, which began operation in 1990s, are nearing their full capacities, extension plans are being implemented to raise their capacities, with a view to meeting with the long-term needs. The initial works for the extension part of the SENT Landfill was completed which has started receiving construction waste since November 2021. With different waste reduction and recycling initiatives, the municipal solid waste charging scheme, and the development of other infrastructure and waste-to-energy facilities, the extensions are expected to be able to meet Hong Kong's waste disposal needs up to the 2040s.
Same as the existing strategic landfills, all the three Landfill Extensions will be engineered to a very high standard, using impermeable lining with comprehensive leachate and landfill gas management. They will be well operated to meet high international environmental standards, including stringent control measures to prevent potential nuisance caused by odour, landfill gas and leachate.
Understandably, residents are concerned about having landfills near them. District Liaison Groups have already been established to enhance communication with the local communities and other stakeholders. These groups promote ongoing discussions to address residents’ concerns as far as possible.
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