Hong Kong's first underground waste compaction facility, will boost the colony's refuse handling capabilities without taking up valuable commercial land. The $50 million (Cdn.) waste transfer station, to be known as Hong Kong Island West, will be housed in two giant caverns some 60 metres underground. The 27 metre span of each of them is believed to be the largest in this part of the world.

Hong Kong Island West has been designed to compact up to 1,000 tonnes of refuse a day, which is then containerised for shipment elsewhere and disposal as landfill. The mammoth project is being tackled on behalf of Swire BFI Waste Services for the Hong Kong Government's environmental protection department.

The alternative design avoided the conventional long, deep excavation approach, and it had the advantage of compactness.

Site work started in May 1995 and Trafalgar used a number of drill and blast rigs to excavate within the hard and abrasive volcanic tuff. The plant is expected to be ready for service in mid-1997. Another project is reported to be pending in the same rock type but this time the aim is to create an underground water reservoir.

Credit cards, computer housings, plastic pipe and siding can all be recovered and recycled into high quality vinyl products. Vinyl re-compounders, like Parma Plastics of Guelph, Ontario, are recycling more than 15 million pounds of industrial scrap vinyl each year, generating revenues for companies that once considered these materials as waste. "Vinyl scrap is a valuable commodity," says Campbell Hendry, Parma's Materials Manager. "Companies and municipalities that generate substantial quantities of scrap are now selling these materials rather than disposing of them in landfills."

A regional recycling centre in the City of Brockville, Ontario, now collects scrap vinyl and sells it for ultimate conversion into pipe products.

"Many municipalities are now realizing that they can collect their vinyl scrap materials, have it picked up by a Canadian vinyl pipe manufacturer, and make a few dollars at the same time," says Frank Yorio, Vice President of Manufacturing for IPEX Inc. "It definitely makes environmental sense!"

On June 4, at the University of Toronto, Tom Davey was named the 1996 winner of The Harvey Southam Editorial Career Award at the culmination of the Canadian Business Press Awards banquet. The citation read: "Tom Davey has repeatedly demonstrated leadership in both publishing and the environment industry. His work ranges from learned papers and presentations, to newspaper articles and broadcasts that translate complex issues into plain language without losing scientific accuracy. He has worked as a journalist in England, Australia, and Canada, in newspapers, magazines, and as an editor for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"As editor of Water & Pollution Control (W&PC) magazine, he won the first of his many awards for an investigative story written in 1968 that linked detergent phosphates with eutrophication of the Great Lakes and other waterways. In 1970 he became the first person outside the United States to win the prestigious J.H. Neal Award from the American Business Press in New York. He won a second Neal in 1982.

"The Washington-based Water Environment Federation presented the Schlenz Medal to him in 1980, in Las Vegas, Nevada; again he was the first person outside the United States to win this award.

"Later, the Canadian engineering profession commissioned him to write the script for its centenary film: The Invisible Profession. This film, in French and English, was shown across Canada during the Canadian Engineering Centennial year in 1987.

"In 1988, the Davey family launched a new magazine, Environmental Science & Engineering. The AWWA honoured the magazine with a special citation in 1996 in Windsor, Ontario.

"The effects of Tom Davey's writing have reached far beyond the environmental community. Over the years, many of his articles have been published by Canadian newspapers, including the Toronto Sun, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Kingston Whig Standard, Muskoka Sun Group, and many others. These articles have drawn the country's attention to key environmental issues that affect not just everyone today, but future generations."

The Harvey Southam Editorial Career Award is named in honour of the man who was viewed by many as both a champion of editorial quality and a caring human being. Sponsored by Southam Magazine and Information Group, the Harvey Southam Editorial Career Award recognizes the lifetime editorial achievement of a business journalist. The winner must have the highest editorial standards and be recognized for his or her contributions to the Canadian Business Press tradition of distinguished editorial initiative, leadership and integrity.

The North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT) has announced the availability of a new Mini-Horizontal Directional Drilling Manual. "The manual," according to NASTT Chairman Bill Gray, "represents NASTT's initial step in solving a major problem in the Trenchless Technology area _ the shortage of trained drill operators. The manual can be used as a reference text for operator training seminars and workshops, and provides the necessary background for hands-on field training," according to Chairman Gray.

Because they minimize environmental and social disruption, and specifically traffic delays, trenchless construction methods, including horizontal directional drilling, often are the preferred method of infrastructure construction and replacement. These methods are being used by utilities to construct or replace communication lines, gas lines, and water and sewer lines, rapidly and economically.

The 100-page manual provides a comprehensive review of the basic principles involved in mini-horizontal directional drilling. Included are illustrations and discussions on safety precautions; planning, setting up the bore and drilling the pilot hole; backreaming; drilling rod/pipe; tracking; drilling fluid technology; and polyethylene pipe. A glossary of Trenchless Technology terms is also included.

Single copies of the manual are $25 for NASTT members, $45 for non-members. Bulk orders of 20 or more are $20 per copy.

For additional information or to purchase the manual, contact (312) 644-0828, Fax: (312) 644-8557, E-mail: 75147.2600@compuserve.com.