Environmental Technology
Local industries and the public in Hong Kong are becoming more conscious about environmental protection and sustainable development than ever before. In a recent public consultation document, the Council for Sustainable Development highlights solid waste management, renewable energy and urban living space as the first three pilot areas in which collective effort by the government and the community has to be put in the immediate future for the territory¡¦s long-term sustainability. Working with the Environmental Protection Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and other relevant organisations such as the local universities and Hong Kong Productivity Council, we hope to identify and facilitate development of environmentally friendly technologies and processes to serve the needs of our community.
Environmental protection therein also lies immense business opportunities for the environmental technology companies. With the rising demand for environmentally friendly products and manufacturing processes to meet the increasingly stringent regulatory regimes on environmental protection in the global market, many industrial sectors have recognized the need to adopt and develop green manufacturing practices and clean technologies in order to survive and compete.
One of the fast growing and important markets for Hong Kong companies on environmental technologies and related services is Mainland China. It is estimated that as much as RMB1375 billion will be invested for environment protection in the Mainland¡¦s Eleventh Five-year Plan (2006-2010). The potential for Hong Kong companies to grasp this significant market opportunity is further fueled by the implementation of the Close Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the Mainland from 2004 onwards. Currently, 1448 items of Hong Kong origin, including certain environmental-related products, can enjoy tariff-free access to the Mainland. The free trade pact has become one of the major catalysts in attracting trade and manufacturing investment into the local environmental technology industry.
Environmental Technology Industry in Hong Kong
According to our study in 2002, the Hong Kong environmental protection market is approximately HK$9.7 billion per annum, and a steady annual growth rate from 2% - 5% is expected for the next five years. Currently, there are about 370 establishments in Hong Kong involved in the environmental technology industry-related business with a total of about 23,000 full-time employees. The major business activities of these companies are focused on the local and the Mainland markets, and to a lesser extent, on the markets in Southeast Asia. They can be broadly grouped into five sub-sectors, namely pollution control technology, clean technology, environmental supporting service, environmental monitoring/measuring technology and green product manufacturing. Although the majority of environmental technologies applied in these sectors are primarily imported from the overseas, considerable number of these companies have good technical capabilities in their specialty areas, such as water conservation and pollution control, air and odour pollution control, waste recycling or recovery, noise control and energy conservation.
Many Hong Kong companies in the industry have excellent understanding and experience in the local and the Mainland markets. However, the majority of them (89%) are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with less than 100 staff. These SMEs in general have limited resources in developing and integrating innovative environmental technologies, hence dampening their competitiveness to realize the market opportunities through reacting to the rapidly advancing technological needs and evolving regulatory requirements in different markets.
Support for Environment-Related Projects
Funding supports are available for eligible environmental technology-related R&D projects and other projects and activities in relation to environmental and conservation matters under the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) and the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF). Since its establishment in late 1999, the ITF has approved more than 38 R&D projects in developing clean environmental technologies and processes suitable for application in Hong Kong, with the total funding amount exceeded HK$76,000,000. These projects cover a wide variety of environmental technologies including solid waste treatment, energy conservation, control of air pollution from vehicles, noise control technology, sewage treatment and water recycling. Occasionally, specific R&D themes on particular environmental technologies may also be solicited by the ITF to address new challenges to the industry due to new regulatory requirements or arising environmental issues in Hong Kong.
In order to encourage continuous skill improvement of the local workforce and nurture technical expertise and professional engineers for the industry, companies which wish to have staff trained in areas that would be useful to their businesses may apply for a training grant under the New Technology Training Scheme (NTTS) and the Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme (PSDAS).
Innovation and Technology Commission
August 2007
