Drink Carton Recycling Campaign

‍Our Recycling Story

In 2016, we launched a drink carton recycling campaign in Hong Kong, making us the first organisation to do so. Upon rolling the campaign out in schools, hotels, a theme park and the community in phases, we then introduced an innovative “Cash Reward” model, where drink cartons can re-enter existing recycling chains. This helped establish a holistic and sustainable recycling system in Hong Kong.

Drink cartons are made of paper, plastic and aluminium, all of which are recyclable. However, they were not being recycled due to the lack of technology, facilities and resources.

When the first carton recycling plant was built in 2019, the scale of recycling gradually grew, but the recycling rate remains very low. Around 23,000 tonnes of drink cartons are discarded each year in Hong Kong. They are wasted when dumped into landfills, and such dumping exacerbates land constraint issues and waste problems, and hinders the development of the local recycling industry.

Countries like Taipei, South Korea, Japan and Germany have different recycling regulations, including the Producers Responsibility Scheme, that offer producers economic incentives to recycle their own products. Producers are required to support recycling, which encourages them to manage waste at the source by streamlining material selection and packaging design.

Drink cartons, being composite materials, have more complex recycling processes. We hope that by advocating drink carton recycling, people in Hong Kong can pay attention to the recycling policies:

• Local recycling industry engagement is in baling and export only, which require low-level technology. There is no economic incentive to recycle composite materials such as drink cartons, which require a higher cost.
• Without a Producers Responsibility Scheme and producer support, the recycling of composite materials will have less market value.
• Without municipal charges on solid waste, the public will lack the incentive to recycle. Even with capable facilities, the recycling rate will still be low.
• Without legislation and producer support, the recycling industry will be stuck at a rudimentary technology level and lose out on becoming a high value-added industry; with a poor recycling rate, the industry is in a vicious cycle and cannot achieve optimal operational efficiency.

We will continue advocating for government implementation of a Producers Responsibility Scheme for all beverage containers and food packaging producers. We urge producers to be responsible for the environment and support the local recycling industry. At the same time, we hope the recycling of drink cartons will boost society's demand for recyclable materials. Together, let’s strive to improve waste management in Hong Kong!