World experts discuss new technologies in waste recycling at Eco Asia Conference

Wrapping paper, disposable tableware, leftovers … an enormous amount of municipal waste is produced every day. Environmental protection and waste reduction have become a global issue. With the theme ‘Waste Management and Recycling’, the Eco Asia Conference, held during the 8th Eco Expo Asia, saw participants engaged in a green dialogue exploring new solutions for waste reduction.

Hong Kong produces 1.27 kg of municipal solid waste per capita each day, an amount way higher than that of other cities in the region. The three landfills are close to saturation point, and the city’s waste problem has become imminent. Waste reduction is the most effective solution. Albert Lam, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Department, said at the Eco Asia Conference that compared to Seoul and Taipei, Hong Kong’s waste reduction infrastructure is still inadequate.

Hong Kong government takes the lead in waste reduction

“To achieve the 60% waste reduction target by 2022, the government will be promoting waste reduction, improving efficiency and undertaking legislative amendments, etc, including stepping up recycling and implementing waste charging, to promote waste reduction at source,” Lam said. Lam remarked that the implementation of food waste recycling is not easy in Hong Kong as restaurants are scattered across the city. The government will be setting up food waste processing stations at different points in Hong Kong to attract more corporations, hotels and restaurants to recycle.

Recycling waste into useful materials is one of the main ways to tackle Hong Kong’s waste problem. Waste management service provider ALBA Asia has developed a technology that turns waste into green coal. The technology is a departure from traditional landfilling and incineration. The green coal produced can even be used for power generation.

Turning waste into green coal for power generation

Tobias Fabian Huinink, ALBA’s Director of Legal & Business Development - Greater China, said the technology has been in use in Germany since 1997, and has converted some 2600 tonnes of waste, provided 15% of Germany’s energy needs and achieved zero waste in urban areas. The technology is in its third generation and it is claimed to be safe for the environment and suitable for places with an enormous amount of waste, such as the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Alistair Starkie, Brand Development Director of UK’s waste management service provider Orchid Environmental, added that solid waste can be processed through liquefaction or gasification, and the carbon dioxide, potassium chloride, nitrogen, hydrogen, and ethanol, etc, produced during the process can be used for generating electricity.

Atsushi Okamoto, Managing Director, Overseas Business Sector of JFE Engineering Corporation, considered an integrated approach to waste management using conversion technologies the best solution, “Countries or regions that have a per capita GDP of US$5000 or above are financially capable of building waste-to-energy facilities. These include China, Japan and Singapore, etc, although the facilities in the Chinese mainland still have room for improvement.”

Okamoto added, “Singapore, a country where land is limited and the population is large, sends 60% of their waste to recycling, 37% to incineration plants and only the small amount that cannot be incinerated to landfills. For Japan, 68% of their waste is processed through pyrolysis, 20% is recycled and 12% sent to landfills.”

Japan is a leader in extracting raw materials from waste household appliances

For some, there are buried riches in waste. Household appliances such as refrigerators and TVs contain raw materials like metals, plastics and glass. Corporations such as Panasonic are extracting useful raw materials from recycled household appliances. Panasonic’s Recycling Business Promotion Team Councilor Shigehiko Nakayama remarked that natural resources such as metals are becoming scarce. It takes mining through 300 kg of soil for 1 kg of copper.

The high cost of mining has inspired Japan to extract raw materials from waste household appliances. The initiative has received wide public support. “Up to July this year, Japan has recycled over 150,000 tonnes of steel, 24,000 tonnes of copper and 13,000 tonnes of aluminium,” Okamoto said.

Japanese exhibitor showcases smokeless incinerator

With Pay-As-You-Throw gaining prominence in the discussion on waste charging, more and more corporations and organisations are carrying out their own waste management. Apart from recycling, incineration is another option. Japanese corporation Chuwa Industrial’s subsidiary Chuwastar has a smokeless incineration technology called F-1S which made its debut in Hong Kong at the Eco Expo Asia. The product uses only kerosene as fuel and is claimed to emit no toxic gases. It is suitable for hospitals and estate management companies for their processing of medical waste and other mixed waste. The company staged a number of live demonstrations at the expo, showing how the incinerator can incinerate tyres and PET plastics without emitting any smoke.