Green Management Policy
Inland Revenue Department is committed to providing a green office environment and to ensuring that its operation is conducted in an environmentally conscious and responsible manner. Reducing consumption of paper and energy in the office remains the Department's green target in view of its office-based operations. We strive to protect and conserve the environment through -
- Ensuring that the Department's operations will comply with the relevant environmental protection Ordinances;
- Adopting green housekeeping measures in the Department such as avoiding, reducing and controlling environmental pollution / wastage arising from the day-to-day work practice;
- Requiring our contractors to implement sound environmental management systems and pollution control measures;
- Using environmental friendly products such as energy saving photocopiers, batteries without mercury and unleaded petrol for motor vehicles and products with Environment or Energy Efficiency Labels;
- Ensuring that all staff are aware of the Green Management Policy with adequate information accessible by those who are interested in the subject; and
- Providing training courses and workshops on green management for staff to increase their awareness on green issues and encourage them to participate in environmental protection programmes.
Green Management and Promotion of Green Awareness
Green Management
The Environment and Records Management Committee which is chaired by the Departmental Secretary, the Department's Green Manager, and composed of green executives from various Units and Sections, is mandated to seek staff's suggestions, set directions in our green policies, issue green office guidelines and update staff on new green initiatives adopted. The appointed floor green ambassadors assisted the Green Manager in promoting green awareness and implementing environmental programmes on a floor basis.
Green Education
Various measures were taken during the year to promote environmental awareness amongst staff, including -
- Updating regularly and displaying environmental protection promotional materials on notice boards;
- Posting notices and affixing stickers adjacent to relevant facilities to remind staff of energy saving;
- Releasing updated environmental protection information in the "Green Corner" of the Department's Intranet; and
- Disseminating useful and practical "Green Tips" through e-mails on a monthly basis and the Departmental Newsletter on a quarterly basis to all staff to promote green habits.
Environmental Protection Performance
To balance operational needs with environmental care and social responsibility, the Department focuses its efforts to provide a healthy working environment with satisfactory indoor air quality, and to conserve energy, reduce paper consumption, minimise waste production and encourage waste recycling.
Smoke-free Workplace
Smoking has been prohibited in Revenue Tower since 1996. The Department continued to adopt the smoke-free workplace policy by designating all indoor areas as no-smoking areas. No-smoking signs are displayed at conspicuous locations. Departmental circulars are re-circulated regularly to remind staff about the importance of maintaining a smoke-free working environment and providing green healthy public areas to visitors.
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
Our staff spend most of the time in offices and other indoor environment. We therefore strive to provide and ensure good indoor air quality for them. During the year, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department commissioned a contractor to conduct a comprehensive IAQ measurement in offices located in the Revenue Tower. The continued award of the "Indoor Air Quality Certificate (Good Class)" to Revenue Tower in September 2010 shows that our office fully meets the requirements of the IAQ.
Energy Conservation
The Department is proactive in energy conservation and implemented various energy saving measures to reduce electricity consumption. An overall drop of 4.6% in electricity consumption was observed in the past three years. Energy saving measures adopted include -
- Modifying group lighting switches to individual switches;
- Reducing lighting to the minimum required level for illumination;
- Adopting the "last-man-out" arrangement to ensure that lights and electric facilities / appliances are switched off during lunch hour, after office hours or when not in use;
- Adjusting timers so that lights in the corridors and lift lobbies are switched off on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays;
- Using computers, fluorescent tubes and other electrical appliances with Energy Efficiency Label;
- Controlling use of personal electric appliances in office;
- Maintaining air-conditioned room temperature at 25.5ºC; and
- Encouraging the use of electric fans to improve air circulation when necessary.
Adherence to the "3R" Principle
The Department continued to adhere to the 3R principle - "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" in the consumption of materials.
Reduction and Reuse of Paper
In specific, the Department continued to adopt the following measures in the year to reduce paper and envelope consumption –
- Encouraging staff to minimise photocopying and use both sides of recycled paper and / or the clean side of waste paper for printing and photocopying instead of virgin paper;
- Encouraging paperless means of internal and external communication by usinge-mail and floppy diskettes;
- Implementing the "Electronic Leave Application and Processing System" for leave applications and approvals;
- Making optimum use of the Department's Intranet to enable more environmental friendly and speedy internal information transmission. Administrative Instructions, Staff Handbooks, training materials, reference materials, guidelines, monthly reports, meeting minutes, etc. are uploaded onto the Intranet to facilitate updating and retrieval on-line, and dispensing with the keeping of personal hard copies;
- Circulating and re-circulating Departmental and Unit Circulars / Circular Memoranda / Posting Notices by e-mail;
- Reviewing regularly the need for the preparation of periodical reports, the distribution lists of outgoing correspondence and hard copies required for circulation;
- Promoting the use of multiple screen method in printing on-line enquiries;
- Replacing pre-printed forms with templates or use overlay printing. The templates of the forms are uploaded onto the Intranet so that the forms can be printed as and when required;
- Continuing to view reports on-line through the Computer Output On-line Retrieval System, thus obviating the need for printing computer reports in hard copies;
- Encouraging the public to file tax returns electronically by eTAX and to use the Department's electronic services under the GovHK website; and
- Uploading e-Seminars for employers and tax representatives to reduce paper consumption by obviating the need to print invitation letters, tickets and handouts.
We encourage staff to participate in the recycling programmes. Bags and recycling boxes are placed at various conspicuous locations on all floors of the Department to facilitate the collection of three recyclable wastes, namely papers, aluminium cans and plastic bottles. Besides, used printer cartridges are also collected for recycling. The Department collected some 308,270 kg of waste paper, 67 kg of aluminium cans, 218 kg of plastic bottles and 7,550 used printer cartridges during the year.
New Initiatives and Targets
Inland Revenue Department will strive to enhance its green performance through formulating and taking forward new initiatives and targets for environmental protection. The Intranet and the Departmental Portal will continue to be widely utilised for the enhancement of e-office facilities. Continuous efforts will be made to economise on the consumption of electricity and papers, and to promote the selection of recycled papers and green products in our procurement.