A Guide for Construction Waste Transporters | Environmental Protection Department

Construction, renovation and demolition activities generate a large amount of construction waste everyday. To evade disposal charges or simply for the sake of convenience, some irresponsible transport companies or truck drivers illegally dump their construction waste on Government or private land, causing harm to the environment, and endangering public and road safety

Do:

know the source and nature of your load
comply with all safety and environmental legal requirements
transport waste to suitable waste disposal facilities
ensure written permission from all land owners and EPD’s acknowledgement on the notification form have been obtained if construction waste is to be deposited on a private lot and the total deposition area of construction waste within the lot exceeds 20 m²

Don’t:

damage the environment, cause environmental nuisances or affect safety
risk heavy fines and imprisonment

Take steps to prevent illegal waste dumping:

Know your loads

Different construction waste requires different means of disposal. For example, non-inert and non-recyclable waste could be disposed of at Government landfills while inert waste such as stone and concrete could be sent to public fill reception facilities for reuse.
Never accept construction waste from unknown sources.
Request the construction waste producers to adopt a trip ticket system to track the loads. The trip ticket should show the content of the load; and specify location of the waste disposal site.
Ensure that construction waste is not contaminated by chemical waste such as asbestos.

Comply with environmental and safety legislative requirements

Avoid overloading.
Use vehicles with mechanical covers. Cover your loads of dusty materials entirely and wash the vehicle bodies and wheels before leaving construction sites.
Do not cause air, noise, water or other pollution.

Dispose of construction waste at suitable waste facilities

Arrange for proper disposal of construction waste at suitable public waste disposal facilities.
Send inert construction waste such as rubbles, bricks, soil and concrete, to public fill reception facilities.
Send non-inert and non-recyclable construction waste to Government landfills.
Follow the trip ticket system requirements: dispose of the construction waste at designated disposal facilities; and keep proper records.
Do not deposit or stockpile construction waste on public roads or Government land.

Ensure written permission from all land owners and EPD’s acknowledgement on the notification form have been obtained if construction waste is to be transported to a private lot

Never dispose of any waste on a private lot without the permission from any owner or lawful occupier of the lot. If the total deposition area of construction waste on private lot exceeds 20 m² (regardless of who deposited the waste), you should ensure that:

Written permission from all land owners has been obtained.
A prior notification on the deposition submitted through a form (EPD-238) has been acknowledged by EPD.
A copy of the relevant parts of the acknowledged form has been displayed in a conspicuous place on the lot.
The land filling activity is carried out in the specified deposition area.

Unless with the land owner’s consent and planning permission, do not deposit construction waste on any private land. In general, do not carry out land filling activity in any place, especially in conservation and Agriculture zones.
Do not deposit contaminated waste (such as chemical waste) under any circumstances.
If such activities cause pollution or violate the town planning or any other legislation, the relevant Government departments will take appropriate enforcement actions.

Offences and Penalties

Under the Town Planning Ordinance, a person commits an offence if he undertakes an unauthorized development in the rural New Territories within the Development Permission Area. Any filling of land/pond within the conservation and Agriculture zones (even for undertaking a development which is a permitted use) without the planning permission from the Town Planning Board would constitute an unauthorized development. Any land owner whose land is involved in the unauthorized filling of land/pond; or any person responsible for such operation may be subject to prosecution. An offender is liable to a fine of $500,000 for the first conviction; and a fine of $1,000,000 for subsequent convictions.
Under the Waste Disposal Ordinance, if waste is deposited in any place from a vehicle except with lawful authority or excuse, or except with the permission of any owner or lawful occupier of the place, both the driver and his employer commit an offence. Moreover, if the total deposition area of construction waste within a private lot exceeds 20 m², it would be an offence to deposit construction waste on the lot without written permission from all owners of the lot together with EPD’s acknowledgement on the notification form for the deposition. An offender is liable to a fine of $200,000 and imprisonment for 6 months. In addition, the depositor is liable to a fine of $100,000 if he does not display a copy of the EPD’s acknowledged form in a conspicuous place on the lot at all time during the deposition.
Under the Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances Regulation, the registered owner or hirer of a vehicle commits an offence if he deposits or causes or permits to be deposited any waste from a specified vehicle in any place except with permission of any owner or lawful occupier of the place. An offender is liable to a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for 6 months.
Under the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness and Obstruction) Ordinance, a person commits an offence if he carries out unlawful deposition of waste. An offender is liable to a fixed penalty of $6,000.