Waste Separation @ Source – Waste Footprint Calculator for Hong Kong

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Background of Green Council

The Green Council (GC) was established in 2000 as an environmental organization with non-profit making and charitable status. It was formed by a group of individuals from commercial, industrial and academic sectors who share the same vision to help build Hong Kong into a world-class green city for the future.

Our Motto: Conservation begins with Education

Reference of our works: www.greencouncil.org

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Ecolabelling Green

Purchasing

Environmental Education

Core Initiatives

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Climate Change Initiatives in Hong Kong

• Hong Kong has set a carbon emission reduction target of 20% by 2020 as compared with 2005 level

• Solid waste management contributes around 5% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

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Landfills will be Exhausted!

Waste Problem in Hong Kong

Hong Kong generates near 10,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily. At this rate, our existing landfills will be exhausted one by one by 2020. We need to be aware of how to reduce it, and separate it for reuse and recycle

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The Government is seeking to increase the recycling rate to 55% by 2022.

Concept of Clean Recycling

Recycling is not a completely new idea…

• Waste separation is essential for waste to be managed in a more efficient and sustainable manner

• Under proper and clean recycling, the material collected is cleaner, making it possible to process into high quality recycled products

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Municipal Solid Waste Charging

• It is expected that MSW charging will be implemented in the second half of 2019 at the earliest

• Will be implemented in all sectors in one go

• More recycling bins will be provided

• “Recycle More, Dump Less, Save More”

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Environmental, Social and Governance Requirements

• Since 1 January 2016, all companies listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong will be required to comply with the Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Guide (ESG Guide), which total greenhouse gas emissions and waste intensity shall be disclosed

• There are various carbon calculators in local market, and mainly focus on

– Fuel/Energy/Water Consumption

– Refrigerant

• So far, no measurements are focused on waste separation and recycling

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A HK based Carbon Calculator for Waste Separation at Source

• The Green Council acts as an implementation body, collaborated with a Dutch waste management expert and research institute, to launch a carbon calculator to measure carbon emission levels through proper separation of waste and recycling

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Goals of the Program

• Turn waste into resources

• Increase the quality, quantity and value of source separated recyclables

• Enhance participation rate in recycling

• Better understand your business’ trash and its impacts - including quantity and environmental impact

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How to Use

• Identify waste generated at your facility/scope of service and collect your waste and recycling records – Type of recycled materials – Weight of recycled materials – Weight of waste materials (MSW)

• Examine current waste reduction practices and identify the areas in which waste reduction efforts can be improved

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Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Factors

• Derived from a series of partial life cycle assessments (LCA)

• Recycling materials into secondary products can displace production of primary products that requires significant inputs of energy and raw materials

• Assumed that secondary products produced from waste materials would replace the production of products produced from virgin resources

• “potential climate change impact”

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Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Factors

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The travel distance is around 25km which is similar to the HK geographical situation

Netherlands Hong Kong

How can the Calculator help you?

• Illustrate the carbon reduction associated with waste reduction and recycling in a way that is compelling and easy to communicate in Sustainability Report / ESG Guide

• Providing a comprehensive, transparent, and scientifically robust catalogue of CHC EFS to support different stakeholders seeking to better understand the GHG impacts of their recycling activities.

• Strengthen an Environmental Management System and improve ISO 14001 certification reporting

• Establish waste reduction goals for future improvements

– Reducing Waste

– Reusing Materials

– Donating/Exchanging Materials

– Recycling

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Target Participant

• Any businesses with waste separation and recycling can join this program

• Green Council will provide trainings on clean recycling

• A carbon calculator will be provided at the same time

– A carbon reduction certificate will be issued

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Announce Your Achievements

• Publicize your achievements in Sustainable/ Annual/ESG report

• Announce your waste reduction successes to your employees and stakeholders to maintain momentum, increase awareness and engage management support

• Share your success with the community will demonstrate your organization’s environmental stewardship

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How to manage your waste?

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How are we going to

improve Source Separation?

Carry out separation

with separation bins

Registration of all waste and recyclables

Evaluate the data and change

accordingly

Thank You!

Contact Details:

W www.greencouncil.org

E info@greencouncil.org

T (852) 2810 1122

F (852) 2810 1998