Education key to cutting back on food waste
The Zera Food Recycler can turn this waste into garden fertiliser within 24 hours. The problem of municipal solid waste is serious in Hong Kong, and our landfills are forecast to be full within 20 years, so such an appliance would appear to be a useful tool which can help to reduce domestic waste.
However, its practical application in Hong Kong is likely to be limited. There is simply not enough land that can be used for gardens to grow flowers and vegetables, and so there would be insufficient demand for all the fertiliser that would become available.
I also doubt if there would be room for it in the small kitchens that most residents have in their very compact flats.
The best way to reduce volumes of waste is through education. We need to teach the next generation about the need to ensure they do not produce unnecessary waste. For example, at home we should only cook as much as food as we will eat and so have no leftovers.
Chloe Ng Sin-yee, Tseung Kwan O