NLP gets a lot of its plastic bottles from Green@Community, the Hong Kong government’s recycling programme. Nine types of materials are recycled in this programme: paper, metal, plastic bottles, glass bottles, small electrical appliances, fluorescent lamps and tubes, rechargeable batteries, beverage cartons, and regulated electrical equipment. The initiative features 51 recycling facilities and 130 weekly mobile stations across the city and also includes a Green$ system where recyclers earn Green$ (a kind of token prize) that be redeemed for gift items such as groceries and daily necessities.

Each collection point provides clear guidelines on what can or cannot be recycled and staff is available to answer questions. There are a surprising amount of common mistakes out there about recycling practices; here are some of them to keep in mind for your next visit:

• paper receipts are not recyclable
• labels must be taken off plastic bottles and containers
• food containers must be rinsed and cleaned
• greased up pizza boxes cannot be recycled

What if plastic recycling could lead to something other than more plastics? EcoBricks is a Hong Kong start-up looking to create another loop in this circular economy by turning plastic waste into functional construction bricks. The start-up uses mixed plastics—that can’t be recycled otherwise—sourcing them locally and producing the bricks using a cold process that doesn’t pollute.

Though lighter, the EcoBricks are just as strong as their concrete counterparts and can be adapted to a wide range of construction projects. The start-up hopes to tackle not just the plastic waste crisis but also the emissions-heavy construction industry and has already paved a few areas in Hong Kong with its bricks, including parts of Olympian City shopping centres in West Kowloon and the Gold Coast Piazza.

What happens when a tree falls in Hong Kong? It’s usually chopped up and brought to the landfill. You would think that trees, being “all natural”, can’t do any harm at the landfill, correct? It turns out that by decomposing and feeding soil microbes, trees can release methane, which as a greenhouse gas can trap 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Not only that, all of the wood would be wasted.

Enter Timberbank, a local wood salvaging company founded by architect and designer Ricci Wong. To him, throwing away local wood and then importing wood from overseas to use in construction and interior design just didn’t make sense. From the destructive aftermath of Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, Wong set out to give fallen trees new life by salvaging and upcycling them to build designer furniture and wooden objects.

You can visit Timberbank in Yuen Long during its open house on March 30-31 and April 6-7 to learn more about wood repurposing and listen to Wong’s story of putting together his unique business from scratch.

According to Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department, 4 million tonnes of solid waste was disposed of in 2022, 30 per cent of which (1.2 million tonnes) was food waste. So, in order to try to get people to waste less food, local advocacy group Ways Out Hong Kong has taken a creative spin on the issue. The co-founders combined their passions for sustainability and civic engagement to upcycle food waste and turn it into jewellery.

By dehydrating food waste, grinding it and mixing it with vegan waste-derived bio-epoxy resin, Ways Out Hong Kong takes upcycling to a new level with its bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

Started in late 2019, the group hopes that its jewellery-making workshops and advocacy work can raise awareness and provoke behavioural change to food waste in Hong Kong while also engaging less-resourced communities—particularly underprivileged women—on topics such as sustainability, the circular economy and female empowerment.

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