A rise in complaints about cooking fumes has led environmental watchdogs to develop a scheme which ill mean that every new restaurant owner has to fit advanced fume filters before opening.
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Existing restaurants will be exempt however, because of fears that more financial commitments could sink a flagging catering industry. “We would only require existing ones to install the new device if they repeatedly fail to reduce excessive fumes,” said environmental protection officer Tang Kin-fai.
He added, “ it is worth spending on the new device as it will solve the problem once and for all.”
Costing $70,000 to purchase, the space-saving filter is called an electrostatic precipitator and is believed to filter up to 90% of oily fumes.
Last year, 1,416 complaints about oily fumes represented a 12% increase from those in 1999. Complaints in that year had doubled from those in 1998.
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By GlobalDataThe scheme will be discussed by the industry and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of the government.
