HANDSON CALLS ON COMMUNITY TO RETHINK PLASTIC

Calls to reduce, re-use and recycle in Hong Kong have never been stronger. At the start of 2022, it was estimated that over 100 million pieces of plastic items had been used and disposed of by hotel quarantine guests alone. It has been predicted that by 2030, Hong Kong will be sending 4.2 billion single-use takeaway containers to landfill every year.

While the long-term goal is to move away from single-use plastic, the city’s environmental organizations–such as V Cycle–view recycling as a critical short-term solution. Recycling redirects plastic from landfill, reuses plastic that has already been made and reduces the demand for new plastic to be produced. At HandsOn Hong Kong, we believe each of us has a critical role to play in this process.

Volunteers get “HandsOn” with the recycling process, working alongside elderly cardboard collectors employed by V Cycle – giving each of them meaningful and fairly paid work.

Rethink Plastic

Thanks to the generous support of ReThink HK 2022, we’ve been able to strengthen our commitment to help solve the excessive waste issue. 100% of delegate fees will fund a HandsOn impact project called Rethink Plastic.

‘Rethink Plastic’ kicked off in early September and empowers Hongkongers to correctly recycle their single-use plastic – by bringing volunteers together to take action during dedicated recycling sessions with V Cycle, as well as recognizing recycling efforts with volunteer hours.

It’s estimated that during the course of this half-year project, around 60 HandsOn volunteers will visit the V Cycle factory and sort and process more than 37,000 recyclables – that’s over 550kg worth of repurposed waste material.

On top of that over 1,000 volunteers will be inspired to join the ‘movement’ as we educate and empower others to correctly recycle and re-think the impact of their everyday choices. Sign up to pledge your commitment today.

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