Glass recycling in Hong Kong has always lagged behind other types of recycling, but it’s slowly catching up with the number of glass-bottle collection points in housing estates, including government, public and private ones, now at 600.
The Environmental Protection Department plans on reaching 1,000 total collection points by the end of the year, which seems feasible considering 151 points were set up between April and June alone.
Most of the recycled bricks will be made into eco-friendly bricks into government-contracted recycling companies.
According local social enterprise HK Recycles, Hong Kong has one of the lowest glass recycling rates in the developed world due to the low resale value of glass. Statistics from early 2013 show that only 5% of glass waste—which accounts for 3% of all waste—was recycled in Hong Kong, reports the SCMP.
The government kindly reminds the public to clean the bottles and to remove them from any plastic bags before placing the glass bottles in recycling bins.
Photo: Environmental Protection Department website
