Through open tender, the Government has appointed Glass Management Contractors (GMCs) to provide convenient and efficient regional collection and treatment services for waste glass containers. The two contracts for Hong Kong Island (including Islands District) and the New Territories regions commenced in November 2017 while the contract for the Kowloon region commenced in May 2018. Under the contract, a GMC is required to:
ü establish within its catchment region a network of collection points to facilitate collection of waste glass containers from commercial and industrial establishments such as pubs and food premises, government buildings and public facilities ;
ü provide waste glass container collection services to residential buildings and estates in the catchment region in collaboration with the Green @ Community of the districts where established;
ü arrange gainful reuse and recycling of the waste glass containers, including recovery for proper treatment turning them into reusable materials (e.g. as construction materials) or for re-bottling; and
ü operate a participation incentive scheme to encourage the public to return properly rinsed waste glass containers to contractor for recycling.
Glass Container Recycling Charter
The EPD launched the Glass Container Recycling Charter in January 2019 inviting the community to join hands in promoting glass container recycling paving way for the full implementation of the GPRS.
How to participate in glass container recycling
The GMCs are required to set up a network of collection points, within their catchment regions, for providing free collection services on waste glass containers at commercial and industrial establishments such as pubs, food premises, shopping malls, industrial buildings, as well as residential buildings and housing estates. Companies or organisations interested in setting up waste glass containers collection points within their premises may approach the respective GMCs of their regions for arrangement. The general public can look for the glass container recycling bins as shown in the photo below, that are placed in the residential estates, Government facilities and other public locations. The public can also bring waste glass containers to EPD’s community recycling network, Green @ Community which consists of Recycling Stations, Recycling Stores and Recycling Spots in various districts, for recycling.
To implement glass container recycling in housing estates effectively needs support and cooperation of the concerned parties, in particular the property management office in managing the glass container recycling bins properly. To this end, EPD has prepared the “Guidelines for Glass Container Recycling in Housing Estates” and “Glass Container Recycling in Housing Estates - Roles and Responsibilities of Stakeholders”, to provide guidance to the relevant stakeholders on the operation arrangement and their roles and responsibilities in glass container recycling to jointly promote the good recycling practices.
Tips for glass container recycling
Ensure your waste glass (beverage, food and sauce) containers are properly cleaned before recycling them. Remember these 4 simple steps of clean recycling –
(i) remove cap;
(ii) empty content;
(iii) rinse briskly; and
(iv) place in the recycling bin gently.
Where would the glass containers go?
Currently, glass containers recovered locally are, after treatment, used for producing eco-pavers, exported for recycling or used as fill materials in different local public works projects. Meanwhile, we have also encouraged the GMCs to proactively explore more outlets for recovered glass materials, such as using them as raw materials for producing eco-cement and decorative tiles.
