Letters | Hong Kong can align with Guangdong’s zero-waste goal for National Games

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With fewer than 100 days to go until the National Games, the co-hosts are preparing to showcase not only athletic excellence but also their commitment to sustainability. Guangdong province has set a clear goal: to host a green, low-carbon and zero-waste Games.

In Hong Kong, the state-of-the-art Kai Tak Sports Park is gearing up for its role as a key venue. Yet, recent discussions suggest that Hong Kong’s current approach may not fully reflect its sustainability ambitions.

This reasoning deserves clarification. While plastic-free is an important goal, it is commonly understood as avoiding disposable plastic. In a truly zero-waste framework, however, the focus should be on reducing all single-use items, not just the material. Choosing paper cups over reusable ones may satisfy the plastic-free criterion but risks losing sight of the broader objective – shifting away from a throwaway culture. The 4R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle, recover – highlight the importance of prioritising reduction and reuse as primary waste management strategies.

Reusables are essential to effective waste reduction. A recent Greenpeace report reveals that a well-implemented reusable cup system at Kai Tak Sports Park could eliminate up to 6 million single-use cups over three years. Compared to single-use paper cups, reusable cups perform better in 15 out of 16 environmental impact categories – including climate change, water depletion and marine ecotoxicity. Notably, such a system could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51 per cent to 75 per cent.