Environmental agency trial will turn a fraction of the city's leftovers into fertiliser
Environment chiefs plan a HK$5 million trial to recycle four tonnes of food waste a day - about the amount dumped by four five-star hotels.
The scheme is being launched by the Environmental Protection Department in the face of a more than two-fold increase in the amount of food discarded by the hospitality industry in five years.
The department is looking for a site for two composting units to process the waste into organic fertiliser. The scheme, expected to be launched by the end of this year, is aimed at food waste generated by catering companies, restaurants, breweries and food manufacturers, which makes up nearly 30 per cent of the commercial waste dumped at landfills.
Details of the scheme and its duration are still being worked out by the department but it plans to collect waste from participating businesses and transport it to the composting units.
The restaurant trade admits its customers are wasteful, seldom eating everything that is brought to their tables.
'People enjoying buffets and hotpots cause so much food waste that some restaurants have already formulated policies to fine greedy and wasteful customers,' Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades spokesman Simon Wong Ka-wo said.