Kenji Wong speaks to RTHK's Yvonne Lou
Oil recycling companies say they support legislation requiring them to hold licences, as it would raise the safety standards of recycled cooking oil.
The government has launched a three-month public consultation on proposed new laws in response to the so-called 'gutter oil' scandal that emerged in Taiwan last year. The consultation ends next Tuesday.
An executive of an oil recycling company, Kenji Wong, said more than half of the used cooking oil in Hong Kong is exported, although local recycling companies like his have more than enough capacity to handle the oil.
He said the government should require exporters to state the destination of their products clearly so they can be traced. He said if local companies can handle the waste oil, it is less likely for it to end up being mixed into cooking oil again.
The scandal in Taiwan started after it was revealed that a Taipei firm, Chang Guann, produced tainted cooking oil mixed with recycled oil from restaurants and leather processing plants, giving way to the term 'gutter oil'.
The company had imported some recycled oil from Hong Kong and later sold some of its 'gutter oil' back to Hong Kong.
The government has launched a three-month public consultation on proposed new laws in response to the so-called 'gutter oil' scandal that emerged in Taiwan last year. The consultation ends next Tuesday.
An executive of an oil recycling company, Kenji Wong, said more than half of the used cooking oil in Hong Kong is exported, although local recycling companies like his have more than enough capacity to handle the oil.
He said the government should require exporters to state the destination of their products clearly so they can be traced. He said if local companies can handle the waste oil, it is less likely for it to end up being mixed into cooking oil again.
The scandal in Taiwan started after it was revealed that a Taipei firm, Chang Guann, produced tainted cooking oil mixed with recycled oil from restaurants and leather processing plants, giving way to the term 'gutter oil'.
The company had imported some recycled oil from Hong Kong and later sold some of its 'gutter oil' back to Hong Kong.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1214954-20151002.htm
