High amount of food waste

Possible causes

Current situation

Impacts

Solutions

among the food waste disposed of daily, some 809 tonnes were generated from commercial and industrial (C&I) sources such as restaurants, hotels, wet markets, food production and processing industries. In recent years, the amount of food waste arising from the C&I sectors has increased steadily: from less than 400 tonnes per day in 2002 to over 800 tonnes per day in 2012.

depletes消耗 the limited landfill space

creates odour nuisance

generates leachate滲濾液 and landfill gases that require further mitigation緩和 measures to deal with

squanders浪費 the useful organic contents

promote public awareness of food waste problems in Hong Kong by education and publicity

over the past years, the Government has initiated and supported various programmes and educational campaigns to promote food waste reduction, source separation and recycling in different sectors and districts (2017)

examples:

  1. Food Waste Reduction Program
  2. Food Waste Reduction and Recycling Projects under the Environment and Conservation Fund
  3. Food Waste Recycling Partnership Scheme
  4. Food Waste Recycling Projects in Housing Estates

the Government set up the Food Wise Hong Kong Steering Committee in December 2012 to implement the Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign

the campaign's aims:

  1. to promote public awareness of food waste problems in Hong Kong
  2. instill behavioural changes in various sectors of the community, including commercial and industrial establishments and at the individual and household levels --> to avoid and reduce food waste generation

constructing suitable and adequate food waste treatment and recycling facilities --> to treat and recycle food waste that cannot be avoided and can be separated at source

the Government is planning to develop regional modern large-scale organic resources recovery centre (ORRC) in phases to turn source-separated food waste into useful resources by advanced biological treatment technologies

the EPD commissioned a pilot biodegradable waste treatment plant (the Pilot Composting Plant) at the Kowloon Bay Recycling Centre in 2008 --> to prepare for the development of large-scale modern ORRC and acquire local experience on collection and biological treatment of source separated food waste

the Pilot composting Plant has a treatment capacity of about 500 tonnes per year and about 50 tonnes of compost can be produced for use as fertilizer or soil conditioner in planting, landscaping and agriculture

use of existing sewage treatment works facilities as an additional part of the network of organic resources recovery facilities --> to help raise Hong Kong's food waste treatment capability

economic reasons

Hong Kong society is getting more affluent, people have no experience of a food shortage --> waste food constantly

not much emphasis on the development of agriculture

challenges:

  1. lack of recycling businesses which can turn food waste into raw materials for generating useful byproducts
  2. lack of land supply: to produce fertilizers or fish feed making use of leftover food requires the installation of factories --> without sufficient land for factories --> impossible to set up food-waste recycling plants
  3. high cost of production in Hong Kong --> even if the land problem is solved, the final product may not remain competitive --> discourage the setting up of food-waste recycling units

the government's funds

a throwaway culture in Hong Kong

reasons:

  1. the government officials began phasing out逐步淘汰 pig farming in the wake of作為…的後果 the Sars outbreak --> all the swill（給豬吃的）剩飯菜 has nowhere to go


    VS in the past, the leftovers collected from restaurants and other food business would be used as fertilizer or for resale to pig farmers as swill for the animals --> the surge in food waste


  2. Hong Kong is transforming itself into an industrialized society and eventually, a service economy --> agriculture no longer plays an important role --> the sector cannot absorb the food waste


fuzzy模糊不清的 and outdated regulations hamper the food waste processing

turn food waste into energy (e.g. transforming food waste into methane for power generation)

other uses of food waste:

  1. turn food waste into some useful materials that could be used in making plastic, detergent and paint
  2. produce biodegradable cat litter from soy residue
  3. turn other leftovers into flower pots and even food containers
  4. make fish meal: Hong Kong absorbs more than 10,000 tonnes of fish feed every year --> many opportunities for the development of this aspect

the government's charges for waste disposal --> reduce waste

according to statistics, around one-third of Hong Kong's solid waste comprises food. Every day, more than 3,200 tons of food waste is being dumped into landfills. (2013)

a lack of financial incentives for catering businesses

reasons for restaurants and local eateries that produce the most kitchen waste being unwilling to pay the food waste processors to collect their waste:

  1. they already pay expensive fees for effluent污水 discharge
  2. they also pay cleaners to clear their rubbish --> prefer throwing the rubbish away

impact:
some unscrupulous companies would sell the feed that hasn't been properly processed --> making pig farmers wary of buying from local suppliers --> other food waste processors need to give their feed to farmers for free for them to try --> those food waste processors are unable to gain a profit --> close down their businesses --> discourage food waste processing business

a lack of clear guidelines for food waste processing:
e.g.

  1. no criteria on how food waste processors should be run
  2. no mentioning of what licenses such businesses should get

the licensing requirements are behind the times: the criteria have not been updated since the 1970s --> no food processor is able to qualify except with huge capital investments --> discourage food waste processing business

the government can lend assistance to food waste recycling units in the forms of land grant and interest-free loans

the government can offer rebates to businesses that send their waste to proper food-recycling ventures (e.g. allow those businesses to pay lower fees for effluent discharge)


two bio-waste recycling centres are due to open in the coming years - at Siu Ho Wan on Lantau and at Sha Ling in the Northern District (2016) --> will ease some of the disposal pressures (the centres have a combined capacity to convert 500 tonnes of food waste into compost or biogas)

It has backed資助 community efforts through the Environment and Conservation Fund, which has approved grants撥款 for about 110 projects related to environmental and conservation matters (e.g. food waste recycling projects in housing estates)