What should I do with my glass bottles? I want to recycle them. What happens to them if they are left out next to the other recycling bins?

Thanks!

A few drink companies, like Coca Cola, will take back their bottles and even pay a small refund, but otherwise there isn't any glass recycling in Hong Kong. It will just go to the landfill.

NOoooooooooooo!

I read a summary of a project being done by a professor at HKU to determine whether ground glass could be used as a component of asphalt (or concrete, can't remember which). His goal was to find a use for all of the glass going to the landfill. I have not recently seen any updates on this project.

Drink companies should really minimise on the use of glass as packaging of their products. Glass is rather heavy to ship. There is one Australian wine-maker considering to bottle their wines in PET bottles, just to cut down cost. Most drinks are consumed not long after they are bottled anyway.

Glass recycling campaign update from Nick Bilcliffe:

"Friday and it's Glass Collection Day at Yung Shue Wan.

This is where we turn EPD's flop and box ticking campaign that collected 108kg in 7 weeks into a project that has collected the best part of 20 tonnes in less than 14 weeks.

This is a project that now unifies the village in support of recycling and proves Hong Kong citizens are not stupid, they don't need extensive education they need the facilities to do the right thing. Busy people need easy of use facilities not lectures, action, not rhetoric.

Push government for proper facilities, transparency on delivery of services and accountability for waste. Let's make the HK Government walk the walk not just talk the talk on waste reduction, reuse and recycling. It starts here and now!

1-4pm in front of 7th Avenue (a glass supporter) and tomorrow, every Sat, 1-4pm, by the football pitch near the Tin Hau temple."

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Email from Living Lamma: livinglamma@yahoo.com

- URGENT APPEAL -
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP WITH GLASS COLLECTION TODAY AND TOMORROW

DUE TO WORK COMMITMENTS OUR USUAL VOLUNTEERS ARE NOT AVAILABLE. JO NEEDS SOMEONE TO HELP HER MOVE GLASS TODAY FROM 1-4PM AND BARBARA NEEDS HELP FOR TOMORROW FROM 1-4PM (TEL/TEXT: 90423241).

THANKS TO THE COMMUNITY'S EFFORTS IN GLASS RECYCLING, LIVING LAMMA IS NOW INVOLVED IN ON-GOING DISCUSSIONS WITH SENIOR GOVERNMENT FOR THE PROVISION OF BETTER CLEANER, FACILITIES FOR MANAGING OUR WASTE. AS A FIRST STEP, WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE ALL RESTAURANTS AND BARS PROVIDED WITH GLASS BINS AND A DAILY COLLECTION SERVICE. MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO USE THESE BINS IN THE SHORT TERM. WE HOPE GOVERNMENT WILL CONTINUE TO CLEAN UP OUR BIN AREAS BY IMPROVING RECYCLING AND ULTIMATELY HAVE THEM REDESIGNED TO BE CLEAN, ATTRACTIVE AND FIT FOR USE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY.

MARK YOUR DIARIES: CLEAN UP DAY 23RD OCTOBER & AGM 27TH OCTOBER (ALL WELCOME!)

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The current glass recycling booth gives you a chop for every 5 kg of glass you bring in, and 15 chops wins you 500g of rice (worth $5!).


So cash in your bottles now -- because it all finishes at the end of December.
The EPD never wanted this to really succeed, and are highly embarrassed that we are collecting 2 tonnes of glass a week that they don't know what to do with, so they are stopping the project. Apparently one person complained that the collection was too noisy, so that was the excuse they needed to go back to putting the glass in the landfill.

Well done HK government. Always ready to play lip service to the environment, never willing to actually do anything for real.

That is absurd! What can we do collectively (forgive the pun) to get them back on track?

ask for the project to be extended....

http://www.1823.gov.hk/eng/cp-mobileapp.aspx

the big problem is there are no facilities for glass recycling in HK...i think there is one company making old glass into paver stones/bricks or something like that....

but without facilities to make the glass into something else you can't recycle

i still think we should all take our glass down there fridays and saturdays to show the government how much supply of material this really is and how collecting can be feasible


http://hk.asia-city.com/city-living/art ... ing-system

this is a good article that explains the problem and what hk is doing (or not doing) about it

and it is true that glass is heavy to ship...but I've also heard that PET bottles are bad for health if you reuse them or leave them in the sun with liquid inside and then drink the contents...they may leach chemicals, whereas glass is safe and can be recycled an infinite number of times if you have the facilities, unlike plastic.

Even if it isn't recycled into containers, having it separated means it doesn't have to go in the landfill. Glass is basically melted sand.
They could quite responsibly take a load of glass out and dump it in deep water and it would be totally harmless. If they bundled them in wire they could build artificial reefs.

The government has decided to build a super incinerator off Lantau, and any attempt to reduce the amount of trash produced would reduce the need. So, they're quite happy to fill up the landfills, then they can say there is no choice.

All the pious platitudes the government talks about recycling is just greenwash. They want a giant incinerator which will soak up construction budget and give work to the big companies that will build it.

This morning on Radio 3's Hong Kong Today, they had a segment:

Glass recycling campaign in Lamma Island

You can hear it at http://programme.rthk.org.hk//assets/contentindex/asx/radio3_513_202128_24395.asx

And, purely coincidentally, later this morning we heard that the EPD had pulled their finger out and will now continue the glass collection, now using the area next to the nullah, opposite the public toilets.

So, keep collecting that glass and bring it along on Fridays and Saturday afternoons. The more we give them, the more seriously they have to take the idea and we can get them to set up a more convenient collection system.

Living Lamma writes today:

Glass Recycling Continues

"With a call from EPD yesterday, glass recycling is set to continue on Lamma and become a permanent feature. Living Lamma will continue to help out over the next few months to enable government to work out an appropriate arrangement.

Please support environmental improvement by separating your glass and bringing it down to the booth - today in front of 7th Avenue, tomorrow near the football pitch and, as of next week, the temporary collection point will be at the refuse collection area opposite the toilets."

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See the bilingual leaflet handed out to the reporters and photographers yesterday.

I had a little talk with Jennifer of the SCMP as well, while I was taking pictures, knowing her from former interviews as she seems to be covering Lamma issues quite frequently. A (temporary) great success for our community's glass recycling efforts, led by Living Lamma. Congratulations!

OK, got to get my own photos from yesterday processed...

They're always open to more volunteers to collect the glass from the restaurants on Fri and Sat afternoons. It's very interesting and fun as I can say from my own experience. You can also find out which beers are most popular and which low-cost "house wines" some of our restaurants serve at $50/glass.

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Yu Lai Fan strikes again.

Just heard via Living Lamma:



It's clear this is payback for people she sees as opposing some of her pet boondoggles. She screws with anything supported by local green groups regardless of merit.

But at least, you will still be able to take glass to the waste depot by the helipad, from next week.

Lamma could become a showpiece for how beautiful an island can be in this overbuilt and badly managed city. We could show people how easy it is to reuse, recycle - and not just replace and fill in a landfill.

The bars and restaurants have nearly all been actively supporting recycling - both glass and food waste. This is an opportunity for the local powers-that-be to make the public aware of how these Lamma businesses are helping turn the less pleasant aspects of their businesses into a benefit for the community. (If people don’t eat and drink on Lamma they will surely do so at home or in places which do not have such a public spirit)

The restaurants and bars have without doubt been hurt badly by the ferry collision (I apologise, only financially, not, of course, as badly as those actually involved). Sorry Tigger, I know you disagree that visitor numbers are down but this is a fact.

Now that Hong Kong people are hesitant to return to Lamma, is the time for the village leaders to speak up to the government and start to promote Lamma as a tourist destination which is PROTECTING the heritage of Hong Kong and the world, in however small a way. If we can present ourselves in an attractive way to Hong Kong, with a new and innovative twist, then visitors will come back. And they can learn how easy it (should be with government support) to start their own Clean Up Hong Kong campaign.
Yeah, a ramble, but that is better than the shambles we are faced with now.

Where is the refuse site anyway? Is it where all those old fridges and broken boats are stored near the helipad? Do we homeowners just dump our empty bottles in a big heap there or will there be collection boxes?

Supposedly from next week there will be a place at or near the waste depot by the helipad for glass collection. Not sure of the details yet.

Why don't we just dump our glass outside her office!

Tempting, but would just make her even more obstructive.