The Environmental Protection Department is collecting and converting 220 tonnes of food waste every day from the commercial and industrial sector into useful resources as of November - up by 40 percent compared to last year.
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This came as the department actively expanded food waste recycling facilities and took forward various food waste collection initiatives to support the sector amid a daily 3,300 tonnes of food waste in Hong Kong - of which 30 percent comes from commercial and industrial sources.
Meanwhile, the department also cooperated with the Food and Beverage sector to promote a food-wise culture to reduce food waste at source, encouraging restaurants to offer portioned meals and provide discounts for customers who order less.
There are around 18,000 eateries in Hong Kong but they are facing challenges such as manpower shortage and space limitation in processing food waste.
Therefore, the 30 50 FoodSmart Partnership Programme and the department jointly organized the "30 50 FoodSmart Conference and Expo 2024," which provides a common platform for all types of F&B services and stakeholders to solve the food waste problems together through experience sharing, joint actions, promotions and collaborative development.
Convener of the event Simon Wong Ka-wo, who is also a catering veteran, said he hoped the F&B sector could work together to promote food waste recycling and move towards the target of attaining carbon neutrality.
"'30' refers to China's target to achieve peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and highlights the importance of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Wong explained the concept of the event, and "'50' refers to Hong Kong's target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050."
Wong also said experts' sharing on environmental management, new technologies of converting food waste into resources and carbon emission management at the Conference deepened the sector's understanding of food waste treatment.
"The actual operation conditions for fast food chains, Chinese restaurants and small and medium sized restaurants are different. With representatives from the F&B Associations and enterprises sharing their successful stories, the F&B sector will develop a deeper understanding of how to instill a food-wise culture, separate and collect food waste and practice energy-saving," Wong said.
Exhibitors at the Conference showcased the latest technologies in food waste collection, treatment and conversion, including biodegradation devices that can significantly reduce the volume of food waste by rapidly breaking down food residues using composite biological strains, thus reducing the transportation costs for downstream processing.
A new green technology that combines coffee grounds and tea leaves with polylactic acid to create a new type of three-dimensional printing material was also featured at the event.
A recognition ceremony for Carbon Neutrality (Waste Reduction) Charter and Food Wise Charter cum Food Wise Eateries Scheme was also held to recognize the efforts of organizations and eateries in committing to promote carbon reduction, waste reduction and food waste management.
As the Guest of Honour for the ceremony, Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said: "I sincerely thank all the participants who have been recognized for setting a good role model for the F&B sector in promoting a sustainable waste reduction and recycling culture."
Among the restaurants participating in the Food Wise Eateries Scheme, local fast casual restaurant chain TamJai SamGor Mixian and TamJai Yunnan Mixian had over 200 branches ranked in the Gold Class and Diamond Class.
TamJai International's Director of the International Business Division Ken Or said its restaurants offer portioned meals to customers with choices such as "less mixian" and "light mixian" to avoid generating food waste.
Or also said that achieving the Diamond Class, the honorable class under the scheme, would not require many additional resources besides joining the department's food waste recycling programme. The company also cooperated with charities this year and made 80,000 meal boxes for those in need with surplus edible food.
He also said frontline workers will sort the tableware and garbage, and collect the source-separated food waste into specific recycling bins after draining, and then cleaners at shopping malls will deliver the food waste to recycling points where contractors of the department will collect it daily.
The food waste would then be transported to the government's food waste treatment facilities, where it is turned into electricity and compost.
Or added that the company aims to have all its branches join the scheme in the coming future.
