Hong Kong's Environment and Conservation Fund has started a recycling program to help consumers separate food waste at home.
Housing estates in Hong Kong are encouraged to partner with non-government organizations to hold education and promotion programs to raise residents' awareness of food waste reduction and engage their active participation in food waste recycling. The new scheme also subsidizes the installation and operation of on-site food waste treatment facilities at participating housing estates.
The Hong Kong government's statistics state food waste accounts for about one-third of the 9,000 tons of municipal solid waste disposed of at Hong Kong landfills every day.
Hong Kong's Environmental Protection Department will operate a help-desk service to provide technical advice to applicants during planning and implementation and assist them in identifying suitable places for locating their on-site food waste treatment facilities. To consolidate experience from the scheme, the help-desk service will also provide detailed operational guidelines and a reporting framework to help applicants conduct performance evaluation.
Hong Kong announced in January 2011 a comprehensive action plan that includes a number of initiatives to reduce waste at source, coupled with modern waste treatment facilities and extension of landfills, to tackle the imminent waste problem using a multi-pronged approach.
