Green Hospitality is Helping F&B Outlets in Hong Kong Reduce Waste

Of all the solid waste generated in Hong Kong in 2020, 30% of it was food waste. Plastic waste accounted for another 30%. Already significant figures, they have only been increasing, in part exacerbated by the global pandemic. And landfills are filling up.

Since Green Hospitality was established in 2018, it has been working with the hospitality industry to drive sustainability. One key area is waste management around which the not-for-profit organisation puts out research reports and, earlier this year, released an F&B playbook providing practical information on improving sustainability.

Green Hospitality’s most recent initiative is a training programme for restaurants and bars located in Central and Soho to help them understand the costs of waste and how they can reduce it, to locate collection points for recycling so waste does not go to landfill, and to connect them with suppliers and service providers dedicated to waste management.

“We are attempting not just to learn how to segregate and recycle, but also to decrease the amount of waste, so we try to see opportunities for the restaurants to identify how they can further decrease their waste, be it changing to different materials or negotiating with suppliers for a more circular, rather than disposable system,” says Lucia Loposova, founder of Green Hospitality.

The pilot programme launched in June with five restaurants—Tell Camellia, Nissa La Bella, The Pontiac, Awa Awa and Bretzel, with a further 15 set to join the programme from August.

The initiative involves training around segregating waste, understanding more about the various ways to recycle in Hong Kong, and learning how to track different types of waste. Participants are required to monitor their waste and log it into a custom-built system.

“We believe in this firmly. It’s a big step to start measuring, but it’s what makes the biggest difference. If you don’t measure, you can’t manage,” says Loposova.

Green Hospitality’s training programme also includes regular workshops and engagement events around topics such as innovation in waste management, alternative packaging, fermentation and other ways to creatively utilise food waste.

“We are trying to see how we can make a lasting impact and do something [restaurants and bars] are going to keep rather than just the three month measurement,” says Loposova.

It hasn’t been easy to get restaurants on board, despite a growing awareness around sustainability. With the pressures that the pandemic has placed on the F&B industry over the last two and a half years, simply surviving has been top of the agenda for many.

However, in 2023, the government’s Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) charging scheme will come into effect to address Hong Kong’s pressing waste problem. Based on a “polluter-pays” principle, this will impose charges on both businesses and individuals according to the quantity of waste being disposed of in an effort to encourage waste reduction and recycling. So it’s imperative that restaurants and bars start to understand more about the waste they are generating.

Currently, the numbers of F&B venues that segregate and recycle their waste is low, particularly in the Soho district on which Green Hospitality’s pilot programme is focused.

“Access to infrastructure is limited because of the slopes and the non-availability of common areas to place bins,” says Loposova. She hopes that the data collection aspect of the programme will help Green Hospitality to gain a better understanding of the capacity of the current infrastructure, to allow for an increase in accessibility, and to help those keen to do better discover services that can help them reduce waste ahead of the implementation of the MSW charging scheme.

Green Hospitality's waste management training initiative will culminate in a Zero Waste Festival at the end of the year designed to highlight the findings and achievements of the project with the general public. The organisation will also be hosting its Green Conference in July, at which waste management will be one of the key topics.