Hong Kong is known as a food-lover’s paradise, with over seventy Michelin-starred restaurants in just 264km2 of developed land. But the city also sends 3,600 tonnes of food to landfill every single day. We need a better way to collect and treat food waste.
This presents a serious challenge. We have a dense population of 7.4 million people, high transport costs and a labor shortage, so a good solution would require a high level of automation. It also needs to be easy to use and a good fit for the urban environment.
Food Transmarter is a food waste treatment system first piloted at Chinese University in 2020. Food was collected from four canteens, source separated by staff and students, and then processed by the Transmarter. The system can even deal with unsuitable materials like cutlery, large bones and plastic bottles.
Inside the unit, food waste is liquified continuously and the slurry is stored on-site. This slurry is then collected by a tanker twice a week and delivered to Tai Po Food Waste Co-digestion Plant, where the waste is then converted into energy.
