The paper and cans that Mr Han, the lap sap lo, collects are sold to a private recycler near the Mei Foo building where he works.
The recycler then takes the collected items to a pier in Kwun Tong, where I headed one day to scout around before being stopped by a suited man.
'Can I help you?' the man asked politely, before extending an invitation to enter his office.
The middle-aged man's name was Francis Wan Pak-tsuen. He was the director of Man Wah Import & Export Co, the company that owns the recycling operation back at the Mei Foo building.
Mr Wan, who is also the secretary of the Hong Kong Recycle Materials and Reproduction Business General Association, said: 'There are about 16 small recycling firms like Man Wah in Hong Kong and together, they export about 100,000 tonnes of paper along the Pearl River Delta to Guangzhou in China every month.'
He said his company was getting by, but that the volume of waste he received had been declining.
