Baguio recycling of rubbish carried out at 35,000 sq ft facility with four shredders and 35-metre sorting line

15 May 2017 robbibradbeer ENVIRONMENT 0

Photos by Carol Biddell, environmental officer at Friends of Sai Kung, who says Baguio is able to use 60 to 70 per cent of the items they collect from recycling bins. The company mainly does separation and the materials are sent elsewhere in Asia for recycling.

Baguio trucks are a common sight in Sai Kung often watering gardens. But the company also has a contract for collecting rubbish from the multi-coloured recycling bins around the district and taking the stuff off for processing. SAI KUNG BUZZ set out to learn what is really going on.

At Fanling Baguio has a recycling plant. It is 35,000 sq ft and has four shredding machines and a sorting line for separating waste from recyclable products that is 35 metres long. (Source: scmp.com) The shredding machines “destroy” paper, metals, woods, glasses and plastics to European P4 standard (6 x 2mm) or P5 (2 x 15mm). The main product of Baguio’s plant in Kwan Tei North village appears to be crushed plastic bottles reduced to cubes for ease of transport, given the stacks around the yard. They go to mainland plants to be made into new products.

As Baguio is a publicly listed company (stock no. 1397) a lot can be learned from its 2016 annual report. It has 150 “specialised vehicles”, 7967 staff, annual revenues of $1.094 billion and profits of $95 million. Two brothers, Ng Wing-hong and Ng Wing-sun, started it as a cleaning company in 1980. Those 150 vehicles and nearly 8000 staff are spread across multiple businesses: pest control, cleaning services, landscaping, gardening, aircraft cabin cleaning and “green technology” all over Hong Kong.

The Baguio directors headed by Ng Wing-hong give a snapshot of developments in environmental protection in their 2016 report. Last year the government stepped up public education on waste management, particularly on recycling, food waste and waste reduction. More environmental schemes are said to be coming into place, such as the proposed solid waste charging plan, a new food waste project, construction of organic waste treatment facilities, legislation on producer responsibility for glass bottles and the opening of “T-Pack”, the first waste to energy facility in Hong Kong.

The directors congratulated themselves that their 35,000 sq ft recycling facility had received 40 company and 200 individual visits during the year.