18-Month Food Waste Collection Trial Kicks Off In Public Housing Estates

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has launched an 18-month trial programme to collect food waste amongst public rental housing estates on Oct. 30, according to a government press release.

As part of the first phase of this scheme, the EPD plans to install around 30 smart recycling bins for collecting food waste in five public rental estates.

These smart recycling bins are coupled with the GREEN$ Electronic Participation Incentive Scheme, a downloadable app that tracks recycling points, which can then be used to redeem gifts such as rice, instant noodles, and fragrant rice.

During a promotional event for the trial scheme, the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Tse Chin-wan, said that “domestic food waste accounts for 70% of total food waste in landfills.”

The trial scheme is an effort to encourage over 2 million Hong Kong residents living in public rental housing estates to take up food waste separation and recycling habits in order to mitigate environmental hygiene issues.

In observing the trial scheme, the government will gain experience and hopefully extend the scheme to more estates. To facilitate this expansion, the government has developed various food waste recycling facilities and conducted food waste and sewage anaerobic co-digestion procedures to convert food waste into renewable energy.

Residential buildings have also been provided a subsidy for smart recycling bins for food waste collection through the Recycling Fund.

For more information on the scheme and how to get involved, click here.