“Mil Mill”, the only paper-packed beverage box recycling factory in Hong Kong, has only been operating for 3 years. The lease of its factory in Yuen Long Industrial Estate will expire at the end of the year. This means that the paper-packed drink boxes may only be disposed of in landfills in the future. The person in charge of the recycling plant company expects the authorities to grant a 3-year grace period to find a place for replacement, and also revealed that the Singapore government had invited him to set up a factory there. The Science and Technology Park said it would give more grace as needed; while the Environmental Protection Agency, which was initially unaware of the incident, said yesterday that it had contacted the person in charge of Miaofang to understand and provide assistance, and also pointed out that there will be three similar short-term lease sites open for tender, but the recycling plant Another favorite site has been used for other projects.
Miaofang is currently set up in Yuen Long Industrial Estate managed by the Science and Technology Park. The lease is from January 2019 to December 2021, and the lease was renewed for one year last year. The investment of the plant is regarding 10 million yuan, of which the construction cost accounts for 7 million yuan. After deducting the pre-construction works, the factory has been in operation since October 2019, and it has only been in operation for regarding 3 years. However, “Mil Mill” recently received a notice that its development strategy was not in line, and the lease would not be renewed. The lease will end at the end of the year.
The Miaofang factory can process up to regarding 50 tons of paper-packed drink boxes per day to make recycled pulp; the daily recycling volume has increased from only regarding 1 ton at the beginning to 3 tons of paper-packed drink boxes and 10 tons of miscellaneous paper per day. The founder, Ye Wenqi, stated that he would not give up the operation. He hoped that the Science and Technology Park and the Environmental Protection Department might provide assistance. He hoped that the authorities would grant a grace period of three years to help find another location to relocate the factory. He initially learned that there was a defunct South China Food Waste Factory in the Eco-Park, and he hoped that it might be rented and replaced. He also said that the government is not required to directly subsidize it, but at least it should cooperate with the policy, otherwise it will not be able to attract other investors to operate the recycling industry.
Ye Wenqi also revealed that the Singapore government had invited him to set up a local factory to assist the development of the local recycling industry and help them find factories.
Tech Park says 3 industrial villages to be repositioned
The Science and Technology Park replied that the short-term lease signed in 2019 with Confidential Information Processing Co., Ltd. (SSID, the parent company of Miaofang) had ended. After communication, last year a special arrangement was made to renew the contract for one year. The park will continue to negotiate with the SSID for the time to move out, and grant a grace period as needed. The park side also pointed out that last year, it repositioned three industrial villages as innovation parks, and is committed to promoting the development of “re-industrialization”; it will carefully plan the land for innovation parks in accordance with relevant principles, and has established policies and approval procedures, requiring lessees to follow Lease terms operate. The EPD said in a reply to the media earlier that it had no knowledge of the incident. Yesterday, it said that it had contacted the person in charge of Miaofang to understand and was providing appropriate assistance on the incident, including contacting the Science and Technology Park Corporation. The department also pointed out that there will be three similar short-term lease sites open for tender, which are suitable for operating various recycling businesses, including waste paper recycling; this year, an environmental protection park site lease was also approved to build a pulp production facility, which is expected to start operation in 2025. As for Miaofang’s mention of the old factory building of the South China Food Waste Factory, the department stated that it has been used for other projects and the works have already started.
Huantuan Zhimiaofang stops operation to recover “broken cable”
He Hanwei, director general of Green Collar Action, pointed out that the recycling of paper-packed beverage boxes has been developing overseas for a long time, but Hong Kong only has one recycling factory. He is worried that once the operation of Miaofang stops, Hong Kong will lose its only recycling channel, which will seriously affect the local recycling market and process. He analyzed that it is not easy to participate in the environmental protection industry in Hong Kong. This incident shows that the Hong Kong government is far less enthusiastic than other countries in terms of land support and enthusiasm for the environmental protection industry. He urged the government to strengthen support for the industry, such as building an environmental protection park and providing land and related facilities. To complement the waste levy and producer responsibility.
