Media

Rapid development in Hong Kong and the neighbouring Greater Bay Area (GBA) has resulted in a massive amount of construction waste. How to productively and efficiently use these waste will be a big challenge in the GBA.

In fact, construction waste does not need to be disposed of completely. A considerable portion can be reused or regenerated. Dr. Wilson W.S. Lu, Associate Professor in the Department of Real Estate and Construction at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), together with experts from different fields in universities in Hong Kong and the Mainland, has proposed forming a Waste Trade Organisation (WTO) for the 11 cities in the region to trade and share construction waste materials (CWM), in order to achieve zero waste status in the long term.

There have been examples of cross-region disposal of construction waste in recent years. Taishan district has used reusable construction waste from Hong Kong to fill an area equivalent to almost one-tenth of reclaimed land in Hong Kong Island. Shenzhen has also been disposing some of its construction waste to nearby cities for further sorting, reuse, recycling or disposal.

The research team will hold a press conference on March 28 to present their research results, including related development in technology, the current situation at GBA cities and common international measures in construction waste management.

Details of the press conference:

Date: March 28, 2019 (Thursday)
Time: 11am
Venue: Room 715, iLab, 7/F, Knowles Building, The University of Hong Kong

Speakers:
Dr. Wilson W.S. Lu, Associate Professor in the Department of Real Estate and Construction at the University of Hong Kong (Project Principal Investigator)
Dr Lu is an expert in construction waste management research. He has been researching on construction waste management in Hong Kong and Mainland China with a focus on its managerial, economic, and policy facets, including tracing illegal dumping using big data.

Prof. C.S. Poon, Chair Professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. An expert in construction waste management research, particularly in CWM recycling innovation technology research. He will discuss the chemical and engineering aspects of construction waste and its application in land reclamation.

Prof. Jiayuan Wang, Dean of the College of Civil Engineering at Shenzhen University will present ideas for waste minimisation, sustainability as well as legislative reform across the Great Bay Area.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Communications and Public Affairs Office, HKU
Ms Trinni Choy (Tel: 2859 2606/ Email: pychoy@hku.hk)
Ms Rashida Suffiad (Tel: 2857 8555/ Email: rsuffiad@hku.hk)