Case study: How Hong Kong’s Drainage Services Department promotes greening, biodiversity and the revitalization of water bodies while providing world-class wastewater treatment and stormwater drainage services
Established in 1989, Hong Kong’s Drainage Services Department (DSD) has been committed to providing Hong Kong with top-notch wastewater treatment and stormwater drainage services. At the same time, DSD puts strong focus on environmental management in every project it delivers Tweet This!, in order to make Hong Kong a livable city.
This case study is based on the 2014-2015 Sustainability Report by DSD published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate that CSR/ sustainability reporting done responsibly is achieved by identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment and stakeholders and by measuring, managing and changing.
Hong Kong’s Drainage Services Department (DSD) is aimed at providing first-class wastewater and stormwater drainage services, enabling the sustainable development of Hong Kong – improving drainage services in an environmentally responsible manner. After measuring and setting targets, DSD took action to build a drainage layout in urban areas that interweaves the natural environment with community characteristics, revitalize river channels and improve ecologies, revitalize nullahs in urban areas while creating public spaces – DSD is currently undertaking the Kai Tak Nullah improvement works to transform the waterway into a green and pleasant “Kai Tak River”– and foster roof greening.
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) DSD has identified;
- How DSD proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by DSD to promote greening, biodiversity and the revitalization of water bodies while providing world-class wastewater treatment and stormwater drainage services
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2014-2015 Sustainability Report DSD identified a range of material issues, such as energy management, odour management, effluents and waste treatment, use of materials, water resources management, financial performance, procurement practices, occupational safety and health. Among these, given its strong focus on environmental management in every project it delivers, promoting greening, biodiversity and the revitalization of water bodies while providing first-rate wastewater treatment and stormwater drainage services stands out as a key material issue for DSD.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups DSD engages with:
Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
DSD Staff | · Employee incentive scheme · Employee recommendation scheme · Goodwill visits by DSD management · Consultative committees and discussion groups across DSD |
General public
| · Customer satisfaction surveys on clearance of drainage blockage · Questionnaire survey of inquiries regarding sewage charges made via fax, e-mail, and telephone · Visits to DSD facilities and construction sites · General queries through fax, e-mail and telephone |
Consultants and contractors
| · Site visits · Experience sharing sessions · Construction Sites Housekeeping Award Scheme |
Academia
| · Outreach activities · Visits to DSD facilities and construction sites · Research and Development Forum |
Green groups | · Meetings with environmental groups · Site visits to river channels |
Professional institutions | · DSD International Conference · Research and development forum |
Media
| · Media briefings · General enquiries via fax, e-mail and telephone |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
DSD’s work must be built on the needs of the general public and stakeholders if DSD is to put its sustainability strategies into practice. DSD has thus established a wide range of ongoing communication channels to ensure close connection with stakeholders. The main stakeholder groups include DSD staff, professional institutions, academia, green groups, media and consultants and contractors.
Since 2013-14, DSD has carried out relevant stakeholder engagement exercises when compiling its Sustainability Reports. DSD will invite stakeholder groups in stages, with reference to their characters, to explore their concerns about DSD’s work. In 2014-2015, DSD strengthened the ties with academics and green groups and collected and analyzed their views through focus group meetings and surveys.
During the stakeholder engagement exercise, stakeholders were asked to evaluate the relative importance of various aspects regarding DSD’s sustainability issues and performance. After analysing the results from the stakeholder engagement exercise, the list of Material Aspects identified were submitted to DSD’s senior management and Taskforce on Sustainability Reporting for final review and endorsement.
What actions were taken by DSD to promote greening, biodiversity and the revitalization of water bodies while providing world-class wastewater treatment and stormwater drainage services?
In its 2014-2015 Sustainability Report DSD set the following targets for promoting greening, biodiversity and the revitalization of water bodies while providing world-class wastewater treatment and stormwater drainage services, based on its approach to materiality – on taking action on what matters, where it matters:
- Building a drainage layout in urban areas that interweaves the natural environment with community characteristics
The 2015 Policy Address advocated the concept of revitalizing water bodies in large-scale drainage improvement works and planning drainage networks for New Development Areas and strived to promote greening, biodiversity, beautification and water-friendly activities at the same time of achieving effective drainage with a view to constructing sustainable drainage facilities and building a better environment for the public. To this end, DSD actively implemented the concept of revitalization of water bodies by building scenic environment with lush greens and pristine blues through Blue-Green Infrastructure – blue refers to rivers and water bodies, whereas green refers to greening landscapes –, so as to offer more opportunities for the citizens to get closer to water bodies and learn to cherish natural resources.
- Revitalizing river channels and improving ecologies
Long before DSD formally announced the concept of Blue-Green Infrastructure, it had already experimented with various ecological conservation measures in its river improvement projects with a view to minimizing environmental impact. DSD endeavoured to retain the natural habitat in rivers by preserving the natural course of the waterway, avoiding the use of concrete in constructing drainage channels and keeping in-situ soil on riverbed in the design of its river improvement works. DSD also conducted necessary assessments in accordance with the “Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance” in Hong Kong before commencement of any major drainage projects in order to evaluate and mitigate the potential environment impact as far as practicable. DSD works closely with green groups and collects their opinions and suggestions so as to better protect the species inhabiting in the rivers. A good example is the improvement works at Lam Tsuen River at Tai Po. With an affected area up to 100,000 square metres, DSD collaborated with green groups well before commencement of works to capture the Hong Kong warty newts residing within the site area by hand and relocated them to upstream of the river so as to protect them from being affected by site works. Several years after project completion, an increase in the quantity of Hong Kong warty newts and other species that inhabited in Lam Chuen River is observed.
- Revitalizing nullahs in urban areas and creating public spaces
Given the scarce land resources in Hong Kong, revitalizing river channels and nullahs in urban areas will bring vast swathes of accessible public spaces to the public for strolling, jogging and cycling right by the shore. DSD is currently undertaking the Kai Tak Nullah improvement works to transform the waterway into a green and pleasant “Kai Tak River” while upgrading its drainage capacities. Riding on the success of the improvement works at Ho Chung River in Sai Kung, DSD will install fish shelters and boulders on the riverbed of Kai Tak River to improve microhabitats and promote biodiversity. In addition, DSD is also carrying out the planning and design for the nullahs revitalizing works at King Yip Street in Kwun Tong and Yuen Long Town Centre, in which more diverse elements of ecological conservation and waterscape aesthetics will be introduced.
- Fostering roof greening
Roof greening goes beyond architectural aesthetics; it also improves air quality, lowers indoor temperature and reduces energy consumption in buildings. In 2014-15, DSD completed roof greening for five of its facilities. Given the thinner topsoil on the roof than at-grade, roof greening projects in the past tended to use easy-growth horticultural species as regular irrigation, weeding, fertilization and replacement of lost/ageing plants were necessary to ensure plant health. To source plants that were suitable for roof greening, DSD experimented with various succulent plants in the Crassulaceae (stonecrop) family, growing a mix of needle and stringy stonecrop (Sedum lineare, S. samentosum), lavender scallops (Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi) and common and moss-rose purslane (Portulaca oleacea, P. grandiflora) amongst others. Results indicated that they can all adapt to the climate in Hong Kong and are fit for use on DSD’s facilities. Watering for these plants needs to be carried out only once or twice a month during the dry season, which enables low maintenance cost and good greening effect. In 2014-15, DSD carried out roof greening with Crassulaceae succulent plants at three existing facilities. The green roofs were managed under low-maintenance modes. The greening effects were monitored and the results were very encouraging.
Which GRI indicators/Standards have been addressed?
The GRI indicator addressed in this case is: G4-EN11: Operational sites owned, leased, managed in, or adjacent to, protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas and the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 304-1 Operational sites owned, leased, managed in, or adjacent to, protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas
References:
1) This case study is based on published information by DSD, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page
3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx
4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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