Waste Reduction and Recycling
FoundationHong Kong's landfills are nearly full, so cutting waste at source works best: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Replace. With the three-coloured bins, food-waste recycling and GREEN@COMMUNITY, rubbish falls sharply.
- Hong Kong throws away over eleven thousand tonnes of waste daily, and landfills are nearly full.
- The four Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Replace.
- Three bins: blue for paper, yellow for cans, brown for bottles — rinsed and flattened.
文體小知識：環保行動說明文教我們減廢四原則和分類回收的方法，跟着做就能為堆填區減壓。
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1Hong Kong people throw away more than eleven thousand tonnes of municipal solid waste every day, and the three landfills will fill up one after another. Burying waste uses up land, and as it breaks down it gives off greenhouse gases such as methane and foul liquid. The most effective answer is to cut waste at source — simply not making so much rubbish in the first place.
2Waste reduction follows four principles. Reduce: use fewer disposables — bring your own bottle and shopping bag. Reuse: use things again, such as donating old clothes and returning glass bottles. Recycle: turn waste into materials, such as making recycled paper from waste paper. Replace: choose green products instead of polluting ones, such as e-cards instead of paper cards.
3Recycling needs sorting. The three-coloured bins take blue for waste paper, yellow for aluminium cans and brown for plastic bottles. There are also glass-bottle banks, collection of the four electrical appliances and computer (air-conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, computers and printers), and points for used light bulbs and rechargeable batteries. Food waste makes up about thirty per cent of Hong Kong's municipal solid waste; treated, it becomes compost or electricity, and schools and estates have food-waste bins.
4The GREEN@COMMUNITY project provides convenient recycling points and environmental education across districts; handing in recyclables earns points that can be exchanged for daily goods. Students can start small: bring your own cutlery for lunch, use both sides of every sheet, and wash and flatten milk cartons before recycling them. Reducing waste is a habit — and a duty.
1Summary 重點摘要
Hong Kong's landfills are nearly full, so cutting waste at source works best: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Replace. With the three-coloured bins, food-waste recycling and GREEN@COMMUNITY, rubbish falls sharply.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
Making less rubbish from the very start.
Using fewer disposables, such as bringing your own bag.
Using things again, such as donating old clothes.
Turning waste into materials for new products.
Choosing green products instead of polluting ones, such as e-cards instead of paper cards.
Bins sorted blue for paper, yellow for cans and brown for plastic bottles.
Left-over food from cooking and eating, made into compost or power.
Where rubbish is buried; Hong Kong has three.
The community project providing convenient recycling points and green education across districts.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: Build habits of cutting waste at sourceThe most effective way to cut waste is to start at the source — that is, not to create rubbish in the first place. For example, bring your own bag when shopping and use over three hundred fewer plastic bags a year; carry a water bottle and never buy bottled water; bring your own cutlery and use fewer throwaway chopsticks and spoons. Every disposable item we refuse means one less piece of rubbish in the landfill — the first green step everyone can take, and the key is keeping it up every day.
- Step 2: Use things fully, again and againBefore something is broken, think whether it can be used again; this lengthens the life of the thing. For example, donate old uniforms and storybooks to charity so people in need can use them; keep stationery in biscuit tins; open gift wrapping carefully and save it for wrapping the next present. Reusing saves more resources than throwing away and recycling, because no energy is spent making things anew — it is the smartest green habit.
- Step 3: Learn to sort for recyclingThings that can no longer be used should be sorted for recycling so the materials can be made into new things. For example, paper goes in the blue bin, aluminium cans in the yellow bin, plastic bottles in the brown bin; unscrew the cap, rinse and flatten the bottle before dropping it in, and recycling works more efficiently. Sorting seems troublesome, but with a few collection bags at home it soon becomes a simple habit; only clean, sorted recyclables truly become useful raw materials.
- Step 4: Use every recycling channelSome waste cannot go into ordinary recycling bins and must be handed to special channels. For example, hand broken computers and televisions to the electrical-appliance recycling scheme, and take old batteries and bulbs to collection points — never into ordinary bins, because they contain harmful substances that pollute soil and sea if handled badly. Using the right channel lets harmful waste be treated safely and made useful again.
- Step 5: Recycle food waste wellFood waste takes up a large part of Hong Kong's landfills, so recycling it well helps a lot. For example, drain left-over rice and dishes before putting them in the food-waste bin, leaving out bones and soup; the treated waste becomes compost for flowers and vegetables. The best way of all is to cook the right amount and serve only what you will eat, cutting food waste at the source — wasting no food and easing the burden on the landfill.
- Step 6: Use community recycling facilitiesOur communities have many recycling facilities, and using them makes recycling easier. For example, take the family's saved recyclables to a GREEN@COMMUNITY point and earn points to exchange for daily goods — recycling brings rewards. Estate recycling bins and the school recycling corner are good helpers too; keep the recyclables in one place and drop them off once a week, and recycling becomes an easy routine that the whole family can manage.
- Step 7: Lead the family to cut wasteCutting waste cannot depend on one person; bring the family along and the effect doubles. For example, stick a sorting guide in the kitchen and help separate newspapers from cans; remind everyone to order less takeaway and to bring their own lunch boxes and shopping bags. We can also be the family's waste-reduction monitor, counting the rubbish each month to see any progress, making green habits the shared habit of the whole family.
4Diagrams Diagrams
5Worked example Example
Example: Yan finds that her family throws away piles of plastic bottles, waste paper and food waste every day. Design a waste-reduction plan for the family with at least three concrete actions.
- Action one: everyone carries a personal water bottle and the family uses a large filtered dispenser, cutting the number of plastic bottles sharply.
- Action two: set out three sorting bags in the kitchen for paper, cans and bottles, and take them to a recycling point once a week.
- Action three: keep a food-waste bin, collecting left-over food separately, some of it composted for potted plants to ease the landfill.
- Action four: write a shopping list before buying to avoid overbuying, and choose simply packaged goods.
- Answer: The plan has four actions: carry your own bottle to reduce, sort into three colours for recycling, collect food waste for compost, and shop with a list. Cut waste at the source first, then let resources cycle again — and the whole family joining in doubles the effect.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1What are the four Rs of waste reduction?
Q2What do the three-coloured bins collect?
Q3About what share of Hong Kong's waste is food waste, and what can it become?
Q4Why cut waste at source?
Q5What does GREEN@COMMUNITY do?
8Recap Recap
- Hong Kong throws away over eleven thousand tonnes of waste daily, and landfills are nearly full.
- The four Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Replace.
- Three bins: blue for paper, yellow for cans, brown for bottles — rinsed and flattened.
- Food waste is about thirty per cent of municipal waste and can become compost or power.
- Use facilities such as GREEN@COMMUNITY and make waste reduction a family habit.