Hong Kong environmental group takes aim at mooncakes as Mid-Autumn Festival nears

Local group estimates 2.9 million mooncakes will end up in landfills this year, up from 2.2 million in 2018

Every day, 3,662 tonnes of food waste sent to local landfills, equal to the weight of 250 double-decker buses

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Mooncakes are a traditional gift during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Photo: Alamy

Published: 9:43pm, 15 Aug 2019Updated: 1:56pm, 8 Sep 2021

More than half of the Hong Kong business and households in a recent study said they would rather not receive mooncakes during next month’s Mid-Autumn Festival, according to a local environmental group.

The survey by Food Grace, a non-profit green group, was meant to tackle the city’s food waste problem by urging Hongkongers to buy less of the seasonal dessert to give as traditional gifts to friends, family and business partners.

“Smaller bakeries will only start making mooncakes in August, but large manufacturers often start much earlier, which makes it hard for them to estimate sales,” said Casey Ng Ka-Chun, the Food Grace project manager. “We urge these companies to make less and match the actual market demand.”

The Food Grace survey interviewed 30 corporations and 257 households in July and August.

Obviously, the manufacturers overestimated demand and most of those mooncakes were donated by the makers themselves

Casey Ng, a Food Grace project manage

The group estimated that 2.9 million mooncakes would end up uneaten and in landfills this year, up from 2.2 million in 2018. Every day, 3,662 tonnes of food waste is sent to local landfills, equal to the weight of 250 double-decker buses, according to the Environmental Protection Department.

Ng said Food Grace would hold mooncake makers accountable by meeting with producers whose products were most commonly collected from the non-profit’s mooncake recycling programme.