SCMP – Laisee
While browsing the website of Waste Management World, we noticed that New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has launched a Request for Proposals to build a waste-to-energy facility. Private-sector firms have been asked to submit plans for a pilot facility using reliable, cost-effective, sustainable and environmentally sound waste-to-energy technology, which will help the city meet its goal of doubling the amount of waste diverted from landfills. Interestingly, the proposal is seeking the cleanest and most modern waste-to-energy technologies, and specifically excludes conventional incineration or “mass burn” proposals. This might strike a chord with Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department, which is proceeding with plans to build the kind of incinerator that New York has specifically excluded.
It will shortly go to Legco to ask for funds to build a so-called waste management facility on Shek Kwu Chau. Meanwhile, it has yet to respond to a proposal put together by firms experienced in building the more advanced and efficient plasma arc technology which will turn waste into energy. What you might call the EPD’s great leap backwards.
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