Macau Yearbook 2013 - Macao Yearbook

Macao Yearbook 2013Special and Hazardous Waste DisposalThe Special and Hazardous Waste Disposal Station, adjacent to the Taipa Incineration Centre,commenced operation in 2007. It handles special waste according to the latest European Unionincineration standard, including medical waste, slaughterhouse waste, discarded tyres, carcassesof animals such as horses and dogs, oil residue, and other solid and liquid special wastes. In 2012,the station’s total treatment capacity (including medical waste) was 2,408 tonnes, with discardedtyres comprising 28.8 percent of the treatment capacity.Legislation and Pollution ControlThe Environmental Law (Law No. 2/91/M) gazetted on 11 March 1991 sets guidelines and basicprinciples for the protection of Macao’s environment. Subsequent subsidiary legislation coveringother environmental issues includes Rules and Regulations on Water Supply and Drainage in Macao(Decree-Law No. 46/96/M, 19 August 1996), Prohibition Against Discharging Harmful Substancesin Marine Jurisdictions (Decree-Law No. 35/97/M, 25 August 1997), Provisions on the Import andRegistration of Vehicles Consuming Unleaded Petrol (Decree-Law No. 44/94/M, 22 August 1994),Measures to Control and Minimise the Use of Substances Destructive to the Ozone Layer (Decree-Law No. 62/95/M, 4 December 1995), and Prevention and Control of Environmental Noise (Decree-Law No. 54/94/M, 14 November 1994) and Provisions on the Sulphur Content of Vehicular LightDiesel Fuel Sold in the Macao Special Administrative Region (Executive Order No. 4/2006), theEmission Limits of Exhaust Pollutants by Newly Imported Heavy and Light Motorcycles (By-lawNo. 1/2008), the Table of Parameters of Emission of Exhaust Pollutants for Vehicles with FourstrokeEngines (Executive Order No. 1/2008), and the Standard for Acoustics (Decree-Law No.241/94/M). These laws have been enacted to reduce and control pollution in waste treatment, water,fuel, noise, the atmosphere and light, and to achieve the objective of environmental protection.The Government established the Environmental Protection and Energy Conservation Fund withBy-law No. 21/2011, and established the Environmental Protection, Energy-saving Products andEquipment Subsidy Scheme with By-law No. 22/2011.International TreatiesSeveral international agreements and treaties to address global environmental problems have beenmade applicable to Macao. These include Vienna Convention for the Protection of the OzoneLayer; Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer; Amendment to the MontrealProtocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer; Copenhagen Amendment to the MontrealProtocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer; United Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Faunaand Flora (CITES); the Convention on Biological Diversity; Basel Convention on the Control ofTransboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and the amendment to theBasel Convention adopted by Decision III/1 in the Third Conference of the Contracting Parties inGeneva on 22 September 1995; the Plant Protection Agreement for the Asia and Pacific Region(with amendments made in 1967, 1979 and 1983); the Stockholm Convention on Persistent OrganicPollutants (POPs); Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain380