HK's Updates: Participation key to conservation --- Injection of $5 billion into the Environment & Conservation Fund (30 Jan 2013)

Participation key to conservation

January 30, 2013

The full participation of Hong Kong people is key to successful environmental protection, Secretary for the Environment KS Wong said today.

Speaking on the Federation of Youth Groups’ online@M21 website today, Mr Wong highlighted four major concerns from the 2013 Policy Address - clean air, solid waste management, low carbon living and ecological conservation.

He said the Government will inject $5 billion into the Environment & Conservation Fund to promote public awareness of the need for environmental protection, and to build up a green community.

While reiterating the importance of waste reduction at source, Mr Wong said the Government will release a waste management blueprint in the first quarter, analysing data in order to prioritise tasks. For example, as 40% of waste disposed of in landfills is food related, the Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign was launched at the end of last year in collaboration with hotels, restaurants, wet markets and supermarkets to find solutions by the first quarter of this year.

Mr Wong noted each Hong Kong resident produces 1.36kg of refuse daily, while people in Tokyo and Seoul only produce 1kg per day. He said landfill extension is inevitably a consideration when addressing the waste problem, although he hopes they will not need to be extended in the coming few decades.

Turning to the environmental levy on plastic shopping bags, Mr Wong said the Government will table the scheme’s second phase for discussion in the Legislative Council as soon as possible, with the aim to introduce a quantity-based waste-charging system. He hopes this will prompt the public to reduce waste.

Source: http://www.news.gov.hk/en/categories/environment/html/2013/01/20130130_145702.shtml

Read More

Hong Kong Updates: SEN shows his support for green school

SEN shows his support for green school (with photos)
**************************************************** 

   The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, visited the Ma On Shan Ling Liang Primary School today (September 21) to have a look at its On-site Meal Portioning Project and various on-campus environmental facilities. He encouraged the school to continue promoting environmental protection through educational programmes so as to create a greener, more eco-friendly school.

     Mr Wong first inspected the arrangements for on-site meal distribution and enjoyed a "green" lunch with students. During the lunch, Mr Wong took the opportunity to chat with students and learn about how the school reduces food waste and promotes healthy meals. He was also briefed by student representatives on ways to collect and treat food waste to promote green schools.

     The Environment Protection Department launched the On-site Meal Portioning Projects in Schools through the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) in December 2009. Under the scheme, the ECF subsidises school conversion works and the retrofitting of basic facilities to help them implement on-site meal portioning and avoid using disposable tableware. Moreover, food can be served according to the needs of students so as to reduce the generation of food waste, and the freshness of food can also be preserved.

     Since the launch of the scheme, the ECF has subsidised 94 schools in carrying out on-site meal portioning, of which 92 schools have completed the conversion works. It is estimated that the use of 62,000 disposable containers can be avoided every day and food waste generation can be reduced by 50 per cent.

     Mr Wong said that of some 9,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste disposed of in Hong Kong's landfills everyday, over one third is food waste. Therefore, food waste reduction and its proper treatment is an essential element in implementing waste reduction at source, which in turn reduces the amount of waste disposal at landfills. He pointed out that the Government endeavours to promote food waste avoidance and reduction through various educational and promotional activities and turn unavoidable food waste into compost or other useful resources.

     Mr Wong also visited the school's environmental facilities, which include a solar greenhouse, a rain water collection system, a solar weather station and lighting, and campus greening. He was briefed on the facilities by student representatives, who also told him about the school's educational activities, which include greenhouse planting and the environmental protection ambassador scheme.

     Mr Wong was interviewed by school reporters at the end of the visit and he gave them some tips on environmental protection and greening. He encouraged the students to put green living into practice and to share the green message with friends and family members.

Ends/Friday, September 21, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:10

On a visit to Ma On Shan Ling Liang Primary School today (September 21), the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, enjoys a "green" lunch with students and learns about the implementation of on-site meal portioning at the school. Mr Wong visits the solar greenhouse, one of the environmental facilities at Ma On Shan Ling Liang Primary School. For more information: http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201209/21/P201209210387.htm

Read More

Call for papers by Journal of Cleaner Production for a special issue addressing “Green Universities and Environmental Higher Education for Sustainable Development in China and Other Emerging Countries”

Since the 1990, two years before the formal adoption of Sustainable Development (SD) in Earth Summit, university leaders in developed countries have been covering research on environmental sustainability in higher education. On the contrary, only limited number of papers was based upon work conducted in the context of developing and emerging countries.

As important engines of the world economy, China and other emerging economies are playing a key role to solve global environmental challenges through their own pursuit of SD and environmental protection. Without doubt, academia should and will play a leading role in realizing SD in their respective countries.

Under this circumstance, there is a call for papers for a special issue addressing “Green Universities and Environmental Higher Education for Sustainable Development in China and Other Emerging Countries”

Preference will be given to ESD initiatives in China and other emerging countries, but western researchers are also welcome to contribute their latest findings for comparisons.

Important remarks for summiting inputs for this special issue:

• Authors are invited to submit an extended abstract of 200-300 words using Elsevier’s EES system (Link) for the Journal by February 29, 2012. 
• By March 30, 2012, the editorial team will evaluate all extended abstracts and invite authors of accepted abstracts to develop full papers. The full papers should be submitted by July 30, 2012 via EES system. 
• Manuscripts should not be more than 8000 words and will be refereed according to the normal peer review process of Journal of Cleaner Production.
• All accepted papers will be published in a special issue of the JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION in early 2013.

Members of the editorial team for the JCLP special issue include:
Dr. Yutao Wang (Shandong University)
Professor Renqing Wang (Shandong University)
Assistant Professor Shi Han (City University of Hong Kong)
Associate Professor Lars Hansson (Lund University)
Associate Professor Jian Liu (Shandong University)
Professor Weihua Guo (Shandong University)
Professor Canzhu Gao (Shandong University)
Professor Jinglan Hong (Shandong University)

For more info and full text of the document: Download

Read More