9: Discuss on the recycling of wastes e.g. paper and aluminium.

Recycling is an important aspect in conservation. It is strategy for reducing the pressure of huge amounts of solid wastes, conserving natural resources and reducing pollution problems. The tern recycling has two dimensions: recovery and utilization. Recovery refers to the collection of waste materials that can be reused. Utilization refers to the processing of diverted waste into new and useful materials and products.

Some of the solid wastes can be recycled. They can be classified under the categories of reusable materials and recyclable materials. Reusable materials(such as paper) can be sold to relevant manufacturers. Recyclable materials include glass, metals (e.g. aluminium cans), certain type of plastics, tyres and other valuable materials. They are separated and then sold as raw materials for recycling.

There are mainly three types of material can be recycled. They are paper, metals and plastics. For paper, the recovered waste paper was either recycled or re-processed locally, or exported to mainland china and other countries for recycling. In the local waste paper recycling industry, there were about 120 private waste paper collectors and 2 paper recyclers in operation. The recycled paper produced by local recyclers were confined to those materials used for packaging. As for metals, recycling of metallic waste has been carried out in Hong Kong for several decades. The industry has been developed from individual waste collectors to large-scale collection and recycling industry. Metal wastes are broadly classified into ferrous metals and non ferrous metals (e.g. aluminium, copper, lead and tin). The recycling of plastic wastes in Hong Kong is confined mainly to clean and homogeneous scraps rejected from manufacturing sources. There is very limited re-processing of post-consumer plastics such as plastic bottles and plastic bags due to the complicated processing procedures. Therefore only a small proportion of the plastic wastes was recovered.

Recycling of waste materials to alleviate solid waste pollution to the environment. Not only it reduces the rate of depletion of natural resources, save the energy used in mining and processing of natural resources, but also reduces the air pollution caused by incineration, mining and processing of natural resources. Besides, it lessens the needs for landfill sites and save the start-up costs and operation costs for waste treatment. Moreover, it benefits the community by creating more jobs other than burying or burning wastes. At the same time, it can be also educating the public about the practice of recycling and the importance of proper waste disposal, thrifty use of natural resources and environmental protection.

However, there are a major problem which faced in recycling industry is the high costs involved in collection and separation of waste materials. As a result, the recycling rates of various materials have grown rapidly on a global scale because of its benefits to the environment.

In order to promote recycling activities in Hong Kong, The government has established a Waste Reduction Committee which comprises business communities, environmental protection organizations, academics and environmental experts. And then, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Leisure and Cultural Service Department have provided recycling bins for plastic bottles, aluminium cans and waste paper in around 200 public areas. Moreover, the government also supports the local waste recycling industry by allocating suitable sites solely for recycling purposes at affordable rents.