Hong Kong’s Leftovers Treatment Lags Behind

Au Ho Tin (Kelvin) (52636429)Lam Kwok Tung (Kenny) (52610985)Wom Kin Chung (Matthew) (52645266)

• Situation in Hong Kong• Factors Leading to HK’s Phenomenon• Current Solutions

• Government• Catering trade• Schools

• Drawbacks of Current Solutions• Government• Catering trade• Schools

• Suggestions• Conclusion

Content

What is the meaning of leftovers?

How do you treat your leftovers?

Situation in Hong Kong

Sources of Food Waste in HK

Sources of Food Waste

1. Households

2. Commercial

Take-away food (box meals)

Restaurants and hotels

Situation in Hong Kong

Hong Kong people produced:

3237 tonnes of leftovers every day

37.5kg every second

75 McDonald’s Big Mac Meal

2010

EVERY SECOND!

Fraction of Food Waste Produced by Mass every day in HK in 2010

commercehouseholds

26%(840 tonnes)

74%(2397 tonnes)

Food waste from the commercial sector increased 2.5 times in the past ten years

Economically

Hong Kong Government spend:

$800 X 3, 237 tonnes= $2.59 millions per day

Did You Know?

86% of all food waste in Hong Kong go to landfills.

For every 7 seconds,

1 children starve to death in Africa.

Source: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/

Food waste produced by Hong Kong every day…

Can save millions of

African children’s

life.

Source: http://hotbincomposting.wordpress.com/

Source: http://www.survivalistboards.com/

Pollutions Bring about by Leftovers in Landfills

Leftovers (Biodegradable)

Methane (A major greenhouse gas)

Decomposition By Microorganism

Global Warming

Water PollutionLeftovers contain 80% of water

Nutrients in food

Water

Rivers

dissolve in

penetrate and reach

Eutrophication and algal bloom (polluting fresh water sources)

Factors Leading to HK’s Phenomenon

• Marketing strategy1

• Chinese culture2

• Customers’ mentality3

• Lunch box system in schools4

Factors Leading to HK’s Phenomenon

1. Marketing Strategy

Attract customers

Promotion of ‘all u can eat’ scheme

To create an illusion (infinite food) to appease customers’ DESIRE

Prepare food >> customers’ need

However, a lot of food will be

thrown away!

2. Chinese Culture

Leftovers Wealth and Social status

Order/cook a lot of food in a meal

Source: http://greatfoodplaces.com/

3. Customers’ Mentality

I should eat as much as possible

in a buffet…

Source: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/

Demand increases Supply increases

4. Lunch Box System in Schools

1. Fixed amount of box meals from providers Students often finish all the food

2. Lunch box providers concern less about students’ appetites many lunch boxes are not finished and create a lot of leftovers

Current Solutions in Hong Kong

Government» Municipal Solid Waste Management 2005-2014

Organic Waste Treatment Facilities Scheme

1. Pilot Composting Plant

2. Food Waste Recycling Partnership Scheme

» Reduce the amount of leftovers» Recycle the leftovers effectively» Promotion

Source: http://www.gov.hk/

Pilot Composting Plantse.g. Kowloon Bay Pilot Composting Plant

1. Collection of leftovers

2. Application of technology

3. Waste recycling

Process of composting

Source: http://www.epd.gov.hk/

Pilot Composting Plants

5 parts to deal with the leftovers1. Enclosed pretreatment area2. Composting drum units3. Curing pads4. Product screens5. Bio-filters

400 tones of leftovers

80 tones of compost

For every YEAR

Kowloon Bay Pilot Composting Plant

9 public and private organizations for the Working Group

1. Practicing the source separation of leftovers and sending them to plants

2. Hosting discussions

3. Setting guidelines for food waste management

Food Waste Recycling Partnership Scheme

e.g. 1. Food and Environmental Hygiene Department2. Hong Kong Food Council

Catering Trade» Co-operation with the Organic Waste Treatment

Facilities Scheme» Efficiently collect leftovers in restaurants and

hotels

Source: http://www.taoheung.com.hk/Source: http://www.sheratonwine-dine.com.hk/

The sources of experimental leftovers

Sectors Type of Waste

Food Production Factory Bean curd waste

Lunch box caterers Post-consumption food

Hotel Food processing and post-consumption food

Shopping Mall Food processing and post-consumption food

Supermarket Food processing

Chinese Restaurant Food processing and post-consumption food

Western Restaurant Food processing and post-consumption food

Bakery Food processing

In-flight catering service Food processing

Wet Market Vegetables, fruit and meat

Food Production Centre Food processing

Fast Food Restaurant Coffee and tea residue

Charity Organization Food processing

Source: http://www.epd.gov.hk/

Catering Trade

Use of kitchen waste machines 1

Providing flexible amount of meals2

Providing special meals to reduce leftovers3

Sending surplus food to charities and food banks

especially those from buffet and flight meals4

School1. Develop green eating habit

Eat all food Decide how much you can eat

2. Apply the style of buffet to distribute lunch

3. Co-operation with leftovers industries in purchasing company

Source: http://www.mingpaonews.com/

School» Promote and educate students to minimize the

amount of leftovers E.g. City University:

Training and practicing of leftovers compost

Source: http://www.cityu.edu.hk/

Drawbacks of Current Solutions

Government1. Not up-to-date technology

2. Slow establishment of facilities A new facility will start operating in 2015

3. Not enough subsidy for catering trade

4. Not dealing with the sources of leftovers

5. Depending too much on landfilling In German, nearly no landfill sites

Catering Trade1. Do not cover all branches of catering trade

E.g. McDonald’s, only Amoy Plaza and Maritime Square

2. No infrastructure for separating leftovers from restaurants

3. Environmental needs

Economic benefits

Economic benefits

Economic benefits

Environmental needs

School» Only around 80 schools applied the on-site meal

portioning method for lunch in HK Information form Environment and Conservation Fund

» Do not talk about the wrong concept of the Chinese tradition dealing of food

» Low awareness of recycling

1. Government

2. Catering Trade

3. Schools

4. The public

5. Development of new technology

Suggestions

1. Government:

Provide greater appropriation

(for supporting leftover recycling in…)

Improve efficiency of the food recycling system

(set up kitchen waste machines; install canteen facilities; send leftover car)

Legislation Landfill disposal ban(successful in German and Denmark)

2. Catering trade:

Cancel the marketing strategy of buffet

Leftover Recycling scheme

Reducing sources of leftovers

Educate students

Practicing proper lunch system

Students affecting other people

By

As a result…

3. School:

Suggestions4. Public:

Reducing sources of leftovers

Responding to the scheme of housing leftovers

‘All you can eat, not all you can waste’

Source: http://www.denvergov.com/

Develop New technology -

E.G. ITADÞ Innovative Thermophilic

Aerobic Digestion

Function:

Organic wastes

Highly effective fertilizer;

Enzymes;

Other biological products

5. Development of new technology

Source: http://www.itadbiotech.com /

Composting V.S. ITADComposting • Occupying larger place • longer treatment period• Organic waste

ITAD• Needs little space• Short treatment period• Inorganic & organic

waste

Benefits of ITAD

1. Environmentally-friendly

2. Economically Viable

3. Valuable End-Products

Solve problem

of leftover

Government

School

Catering tradeTechnology

Public

Conclusion

Kelvin• Situation of food waste problem in Hong Kong• 4 Factors leading to this situation

Kenny• Current solutions by the Government,

catering trade and schools• Drawbacks

Matthew • Suggestions1. Government 2. Catering Trade3. Schools4. The public5. Development of new technology

THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION!

Q & A Section

Source: http://learninginhand.com/