Waste Reduction: From Challenges to Successful Implementation

Mr Edwin Lau is currently the Founder and Executive Director of The Green Earth, an environmental organization promoting resource conservation and zero-waste culture. He has been actively engaged in environmental protection work since the late 1980s. During the period, he placed great concern on several pressing environmental topics, e.g. waste management, air pollution, climate change and energy conservation.

Mr Lau is currently a member of CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change Expert Committee and senior advisor of Hong Kong Solar Industries Association.

In 2009, Mr Lau was awarded the Medal of Honour by the HKSAR Government in recognition of his long-term contribution to the promotion of environmental protection and environmental education. In the same year, he was also awarded an Outstanding Earth Champion by The Earth Champions Foundation.

My Sustainability Goals for 2024:

• Shelving the waste-charging scheme does not mean the city’s waste crisis has gone, instead, we must act stronger in avoiding waste generation at source and followed by practising clean recycling to genuinely address the waste crisis.
• Hong Kong should do more in enhancing the building energy efficiency of the entire building stock.
• Renewable energy, including Green Hydrogen, should be developed much faster to supply the city with zero-carbon renewables to cope with the increasing demand, otherwise even with faster transition to electric transport would not contribute much in decarbonisation.
• We need to educate the public a lot more to raise their environmental awareness so that the majority of the population will act green continuously.

Kenny is currently serving as the Treasurer of the Hong Kong Waste Management Association (HKWMA). Hong Kong Waste Management Association (HKWMA), inaugurated in 1994, has been the premier organization representing professionals in Hong Kong’s solid waste management and environmental industries. Our members range from government officials, consultants, contractors and academia both locally and internationally.

Kenny is the Co-Founder of EnviPro Technology Company Limited (EnviPro), contributing to consultancy projects related to air, acoustic, odour and health impact assessment in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

In 2021, Kenny appointed by the Government as member of the Advisory Committee on Countryside Conservation (ACCC). Kenny obtained The outstanding alumni Award from the PolyU CEE in 2023.

Our sustainability goals for 2024:

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. Progress is impossible without change.

Keilem Ng mixes an international career working in real estate finance and investment with a passionate commitment to sustainability and the environment. Keilem is currently General Manager – Sustainability at Link REIT, Asia’s largest real estate investment trust, and is responsible for integrating sustainability into all aspects of the business. Keilem joined the investment industry in 2004 and has worked in New York, Shanghai and Hong Kong covering global markets. From 2009 to 2017, Keilem was an Executive Director at JPMorgan Asset Management responsible for real asset acquisitions and asset management throughout Asia Pacific. Keilem holds a BA in Architecture from Yale University and a MS in Real Estate from New York University. She is also the founder of the non-profit organisations Eco Marine and Exchange and Empower.

My Sustainability Goals for 2024:

In 2024, I hope to continue and deepen collaboration with our stakeholders to take action to make on the ground change.

Karen spearheads the development and execution of  strategies that promote sustainable operations within the Cathay group, driving the organization towards its goals of sustainability leadership. She focuses on facilitating resource circularity, reducing waste, and leading Cathay’s sustainability communications and disclosures. Prior to joining Cathay, Karen worked in ESG advisory, serving both corporate and non-profit clients. She is passionate about creating eco-conscious travel experiences and driving systemic changes to enhance sustainability in the industry, embodying the ethos of “greener together.”

Alfred Weston has worked for the Swire Group since 2011. He spent six years at Swire Pacific Offshore, mainly located in Singapore and Angola, three years at Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong, and three years with John Swire & Sons in Papua New Guinea, before joining New Life Plastics in September 2022.

New Life Plastics aspires to be a catalyst for change in the plastic bottle circular economy in Hong Kong. It is the first recycling facility of its kind in Hong Kong and is focused on recycling PET beverage bottles to a food-grade standard; this enables bottles collected in Hong Kong to be remade back into beverage bottles, closing the bottle-to-bottle loop.

My Sustainability Goal for 2024:

To improve the bottle-to-bottle recycling rate in Hong Kong.