Hong Kong has succeeded in arresting the growth of municipal solid waste disposal in landfills for five consecutive years since 2000, reversing the trend of 3.5% annual growth before 2000, Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works Dr Sarah Liao says.

In the foreword to the Environmental Protection Department's latest annual report, "Environment Hong Kong 2005" published today, Dr Liao said good progress was made in waste management last year.

She credits enacting the construction waste disposal charging scheme ordinance and launching a pilot scheme for household waste separation for the improvements.

With a theme of "A Shared Responsibility for a Sustainable Future", the annual report emphasises the importance of shared responsibility to achieve a clean environment. It gives an account of progress made in improving the environment in 2004 and the challenges ahead.

On air quality management, Dr Liao said the Guangdong and Hong Kong governments are pressing ahead to implement the enhanced pollution control measures to achieve the agreed emission reduction targets of the four major regional air pollutants by the year 2010.

"We have also set up a regional air quality monitoring network which will start operation in 2005," she said.

Locally, she noted that nearly all taxis were now fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas while about 80% of the newly registered public light buses ran on LPG.

The catalyst retrofit programme for older heavy diesel vehicles was completed last year while the installation of emission reduction devices for heavy diesel vehicles will become mandatory this year, she said.

As compared with 1999, the concentrations of particulates fell 9% and nitrogen oxides 24% at the road side last year.

Turning to water quality, Dr Liao said with public support, the Government will implement the second and final stages of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme with a view to treating all sewage from both sides of the harbour by 2013.

On conservation, she said a new nature conservation policy with an implementation plan was promulgated last November.

The new policy aims to achieve the nature conservation objectives, in particular to enhance the conservation of ecologically important sites in private ownership.

"As part of the new policy, we are going to launch a pilot scheme for the new nature conservation measures to enhance conservation of the priority sites," she said.

Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works (Environment) Kwok Ka-keung, who also took up the duties of the Director of Environmental Protection after the bureau/department merger, said in his message 2005 will be a year of action.

In its new incarnation - combining the responsibilities and resources of a policy bureau and a department - the department will be well-placed to rise to the challenges to the environment, he said.

The annual report also gives an account of co-operation with regional and international organisations on protecting the environment.

The full-colour report is printed with environmentally friendly ink on recycled paper, covering areas including community awareness, customer service and partnerships, environmental assessment and planning, air, noise, waste, water, and environmental compliance.

A pamphlet gives the public a quick grasp of the progress made in protecting the environment last year. Companion resource materials for the annual report, in CD-ROM form, summarise the progress with detailed figures, tables and charts.

The Chinese and English versions of the annual report, each with a bilingual CD-ROM attached, are now on sale at $100 each. The bilingual CD-ROM is also available for sale at $8 each. Orders can be placed at the Government Bookstore, at the Information Services Department's Publications Sales Section, by phone on 2537 1910 or by fax 2523 7195, or by email to puborder@isd.gov.hk