"We received a lot of complaints in 2000. At that time the figure went up to some 26,000." Nonetheless, the figure did not let the Environmental Protection Department down, says its Assistant Director Mike Chiu.

It acted as a catalyst for setting up a partnership programme with different sectors of the community to work for a better environment.

Green team: Dr Mike Chiu and the Environmental Protection Department have established close ties with different sectors of the community to make Hong Kong a cleaner and greener place to live.

Dr Chiu, who has steered the programme all the way through, tells news.gov.hk the rationale behind it: making environmental protection everybody's business.

He said: "We want the industry to get involved, and we don't want just the Government to look after environmental protection. At that time, the trade also asked us for advice, and that's how the programme started."

After two years of hard work, the programme has begun to bear fruit.

The number of complaints went down from 26,695 in 2000 to 19,449 last year, a 27% cut.

Last year also saw a drastic decrease in the number of convictions related to environmental nuisance, from 1,689 in 2000 to 771 last year.

Valuable partner: property management

The noise and mess brought by renovation works is always the subject of complaints.

In view of this, the department undertook a trial with property managers at three new developments in Tseung Kwan O in 2001.

Dr Chiu said: "We want to see if better education can prevent the problem. "

Education materials were given to tenants before they moved into their new homes.

"This was a great success: no complaints were received during the six-month trial. The scheme helped reduce the number of complaints and save the property management's time," he added.

Since then, the partnership programme with the property management sector has been expanded to cover as many new homes as possible.

New technologies make restaurants "greener"

Hong Kong is a gastronome's heaven. But behind the scenes, the restaurant trade has long been facing the problem of grease and odours from cooking.

To address the issue, the Department has been working with the trade since the late 1990s.

The efforts have been further strengthened with the launching of a one-stop help desk last year, including a Green Restaurant Web Site, a hotline (tel: 2784 6638) and free advisory service.

So is there any trick for getting rid of grease build-up and odours?

Our expert said introducing new technologies to the trade, including an electrostatic device to trap grease and fumes, is a good idea.

He explained: "We asked local academic institutes and the Productivity Council to design devices for the trade as imported ones are rather expensive.

"The tailor-made device, at a cost of some $20,000, is considered affordable. Over 500 restaurants are now using the product to reduce pollution."

Partnership benefits all

For the Government, working closely with partners in the private sector has proved to be the most effective way in tackling pollution.

For the partners, the programme has helped them to save the environment and most important, operating costs and time.

For example, wastewater is recycled in construction sites to cut down the amount of sewage discharged. This also helps reduce the sewage tariff.

Partnership Programme: the way forward

Dr Chiu also shared upcoming initiatives for the partnership programme.

The Department is to introduce a number of environmentally-friendly tools, which were seen during a recent tour to Tokyo, for the restaurant trade.

The first is an activated carbon-made deodoriser. It is simple in structure and will help reduce odour from cooking.

"Another one is water reducers, which is even simpler. It can help cut water usage by 20% to 30%," Dr Chiu said.

Apart from introducing new technologies, the Department will also make use of IT, such as the Internet, to keep its partners abreast of environmental conservation tips and technologies.

Model garages and restaurants will also be set up to let the partners know simple and cost-effective ways to tackle pollution.