“Reduce and Recycle 2.0” Campaign launched to promote “Save More, Recycle More” concept (with photo)
The Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) and the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) launched the "Reduce and Recycle 2.0" Campaign today (June 16) to encourage the public to go green and support green recovery and a circular economy while fighting against the COVID-19 epidemic. Apart from promoting waste reduction at source, the Campaign will step up calls on the public to make good use of the community recycling network and practise the green living concept of "Save More, Recycle More".
The slogan "Blue for paper, yellow for aluminium cans and brown for plastic bottles" has been used to highlight the three common recyclables. However, recycling involves more than those three types of recyclables. The EPD is expanding its recycling network through the addition of outlets in the community and the collection of more recyclable types, including glass bottles, fluorescent lamps and tubes, rechargeable batteries, small electrical appliances, and regulated waste electrical and electronic equipment. The community recycling network of the EPD will ensure that all clean recyclables collected can be properly handled and turned into resources. As for fluorescent lamps and tubes, rechargeable batteries and electrical appliances, which contain chemical materials, they will be treated so that they are fit for recycling.
The Campaign will promote various themes in phases. The first phase, which will last for about three months, was launched today.
The first phase of the Campaign will highlight different types of recyclables and the community recycling network. The EPD is sparing no effort in developing the community recycling network. The Community Green Stations (CGSs) project started in 2015 to encourage the "Use Less, Waste Less" lifestyle concept and clean recycling through environmental education and community partnership. Meanwhile, the EPD is actively upscaling the existing Community Recycling Centres (CRCs) and extending their service to cover all 18 districts in the city by setting up new recycling points. The CGSs and the CRCs complement each other in developing a new recycling network to serve members of the public territory-wide. Both the CGSs and the CRCs will collect eight types of recyclables, namely paper, metals, different types of plastics (including styrofoam), glass containers, fluorescent lamps and tubes, rechargeable batteries, small electrical appliances and regulated waste electrical and electronic equipment.
The second phase of the Campaign will focus on raising public awareness of plastic-free living and encourage the avoidance of single-use plastic tableware, packaging materials and more at source. There will also be new initiatives to promote clean recycling, including the Pilot Scheme on Collection and Recycling Services of Plastic Recyclable Materials in three districts (i.e. Eastern, Kwun Tong and Sha Tin) and the Pilot Scheme on Reverse Vending Machines (to prepare for the introduction of the Producer Responsibility Scheme on Plastic Beverage Containers later).
The EPD has also set up outreaching teams, named Green Outreach, to provide property management companies and members of the public with on-site briefings on and assistance in carrying out waste separation and clean recycling. The Campaign will organise regional activities later and the Green Outreach teams will co-operate with community partners to disseminate the latest information on waste reduction and recycling and further promote the green lifestyle concept of "Save More, Recycle More".
Besides the eight types of recyclables mentioned above, the Campaign will also focus on the promotion of food waste recycling at a later stage to tie in with Hong Kong's new milestone of converting food waste into energy.
For the purpose of the Campaign, a new character, Greeny, will be introduced to partner with the Environment Bureau's ambassador Big Waster to promote the message "Save More, Recycle More". Complemented by online games and exhibitions, the duo will disseminate knowledge about waste reduction and recycling. Members of the public are welcome to visit the Facebook pages of Big Waster and the ECC for the green stories of Big Waster and his new buddy Greeny, as well as the latest information about waste reduction and recycling.
