Official Opening of New Electrical and Electronic Waste Recycling Plant in Hong Kong
In the presence of Chief Executive Ms. Carrie Lam, the Head of Government of the special administrative region of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Minister for the Environment Wong Kam-sing, as well as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ALBA Group, Dr Axel Schweitzer, on 19 March 2018 marked the official opening of “Hong Kong WEEE·PARK” for the processing and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The facility is the most modern in the whole of South East Asia. It is also regarded as being the biggest combined facility for the processing of such a wide range of equipment in the world.
ALBA Group won the contract for the construction and operation of this plant in 2015 – the largest single contract in the company’s history. In addition to the construction and operation of the plant, the order also includes the development and operation of a city-wide collection system with five satellite collection centres and a special fleet of HGVs for the duration of ten years. In total, over its lifetime, the contract will have a value of approx. 318 million €. For the first time, in the interests of ensuring the environmentally-friendly recycling of the waste materials, the City of Hong Kong has combined the collection and recycling of electrical and electronic waste in a single tender.
It is anticipated that the majority of “regulated” electronic waste of Hong Kong will be treated at the plant, which is owned by the Hong Kong government. The regulated material encompasses large household devices, including air conditioning equipment, fridges, television sets, washing machines and computers.
“This is a milestone for more recycling in Hong Kong”, highlighted Dr Axel Schweitzer, CEO of the ALBA Group. “As one of the leading recycling companies of the world we are proud of being chosen as a partner by the Hong Kong government. For us, this is an incentive to continue supporting Hong Kong in its aim to establish professional recycling.” The official opening of this beacon project comes within the 50th anniversary of ALBA.
“To the contractor ALBA congratulations and I look forward to your continued contributions towards the recycling and recovery of WEEE in Hong Kong”, said Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Head of Government of the special administrative region of Hong Kong on the occasion of the opening ceremony. “This project will underpin the producer responsibility scheme on WEEE that the Government will be implementing in full later this year. Environment is a key priority of this term of the Government. I look forward to closer collaboration and cooperation between the Hong Kong and overseas’ economies as we are working in full steam to green our environment and make Hong Kong an even more liveable city.”
The facility is situated on the EcoPark industry park, which has been constructed by the City of Hong Kong and which is reserved for GreenTech businesses only. The park is located to the north of the airport. Its annual capacity amounts to 30 000 t in a 1.5 shift operation, with the option to expand to up to 56 000 t/year through multi-shift operations. The Hong Kong facility is a major part of ALBA Group’s China activities, which the Berlin based company pushes mainly together with its Chinese partner Techcent.
