The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (August 12) announced that, following an open tender process, AJA Joint Venture has won the contract to design, build and operate the Organic Resources Recovery Centre Phase 2 (O·PARK2).

     "The practice of disposing of a large amount of food waste at landfills is neither sustainable nor environmentally desirable and also depletes the limited landfill space. We need to develop modern recovery centres to recycle and convert source-separated food waste into useful resources including energy," an EPD spokesperson said.

     O·PARK2 will be located at Sha Ling in North District and occupy an area of approximately 2.5 hectares. O·PARK2 will be able to treat 300 tonnes of food waste daily and produce biogas, which is a form of renewable energy. In addition to providing electricity and heat for the facilities in O·PARK2, the surplus biogas will be used for production of town gas or electricity to be fed into the power grids of the power companies. Furthermore, O·PARK2 will produce about 10 000 tonnes of compost annually, of which some will be reserved for use by government departments, farmers and members of the public for free.

     O·PARK2 is expected to be commissioned in 2022 and the contract includes a 15-year operation period. With the commissioning of O·PARK2, the decrease in use of fossil fuels for electricity generation together with the reduced amount of organic waste being sent to landfills will prevent the emission of some 67 000 tonnes of greenhouse gases, and reduce the amount of food waste to be disposed of at landfills by about 110 000 tonnes annually.

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Monday, August 12, 2019 is 106.7 (same as last Saturday's index).

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Saturday, August 10, 2019 was 106.7 (up 0.2 against last Friday's index).

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has announced that the lifesaving services at Golden Beach and â€‹Cafeteria New Beach in Tuen Mun District resumed today (August 12). The lifesaving services at the beaches were suspended earlier due to an insufficient number of lifeguards on duty.

     The Labour Department (LD) is investigating a fatal work accident that occurred in a construction site at Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, this morning (August 12) in which a man died.
 
     The LD immediately deployed staff to the scene upon receiving a report of the accident, and is now conducting an investigation to look into its cause.

Attention TV/radio announcers:

     Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (August 12) that due to an insufficient number of lifeguards on duty, the lifesaving services at Golden Beach in Tuen Mun District are suspended until further notice.

     First-aid services will be maintained at the beach.