The Environmental Protection Department has organised a debate competition to encourage discussion among secondary school students on the proper management of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

The contest began today with the participation of debate teams from four schools. They debated issues surrounding the producer responsibility scheme for waste electrical and electronic equipment.

The competition comprises two preliminary sessions and a final. The first session was held at 5pm today in Causeway Bay Community Centre where Wa Ying College and the Mission Covenant Church Holm Glad College debated whether "trades should undertake a greater share of responsibility than consumers should".

The second session will be held at 1pm, April 15, in the Duke of Windsor Social Service Building where Diocesan Boys' School and Heep Yunn School will debate whether "cost recovery under the 'polluter-pays' principle is a tax in disguise".

Winners of the preliminary sessions will enter the final, which will be held at Discovery Park Shopping Centre, Tsuen Wan, at 1.30pm, April 24. The motion is whether "locally generated waste electrical and electronic equipment must be treated locally".