As more groups and individuals enthusiastically embrace source separation of waste in Hong Kong, the amount of waste destined for landfills is shrinking, the city's Permanent Secretary for the Environment Annisa Wong said here Friday.

Speaking at a forum on waste separation on Friday afternoon, Wong thanked the public for their support and participation in waste recycling and recovery, which had helped to increase the domestic waste-recovery rate from 14 percent in 2004 to 35 percent in 2009. Over the same period, domestic waste disposed of at landfills fell by 15 percent while municipal solid waste fell 3.8 percent.

"Source separation of waste is becoming a general practice for more and more families in Hong Kong. The Environmental Protection Department is working to enhance the implementation of the source separation of waste program and will extend the program to rural areas and old districts," Wong said.

Representatives from property-management companies, housing estates and institutions shared their waste-separation promotion experience at the forum. Those with outstanding performances in source separation last year were also presented with awards and commendation certificates.

More than 1,530 housing estates have signed up to join the source separation of waste program, covering three quarters of Hong Kong's population, since its launch in January, 2005. Since the department extended the program to cover industrial and commercial buildings in October, 2007, more than 620 such buildings have joined.

The city's Environment and Conservation Fund will continue to help housing estates and industrial and commercial buildings to install waste-recovery facilities through allocated fund subsidies.