Workshop A

Beyond the Bin: Rethinking Waste in Hong Kong

10 Sep (Thur) Day 1 : 14:00 – 15:15

Recycling and food waste sound like solved problems, until you see the gap between what we think happens and what actually does. Hosted by the HKU Jockey Club Enterprise Sustainability Global Research Institute, this 75-minute workshop brings leading organisations across two focused conversations to make the chain visible from the inside.

Rethinking Recycling: Reward and Recover, explores what it actually takes for a bottle in a recycling bin to come back as a new bottle — from the consumer-facing incentives that get it there to the industrial processing that makes bottle-to-bottle recycling possible.

Rethinking Food Waste: Prevent and Reshape, examines where food surplus forms across the food system — from retail operations to the shifting patterns of how Hong Kong orders, prepares, and consumes food.

Expect to walk away knowing things most people in Hong Kong don’t — straight from the operators making it happen.

Session Learnings:

  • Understand how Hong Kong’s recycling chain actually functions, and where the friction lies between consumer behaviour, collection, and industrial-scale processing.
  • Learn what food-grade PET recycling specifically demands of every upstream player, and what ordinary residents don’t realise about how their own recycling habits decide whether a bottle becomes a new bottle or fails.
  • Have a clearer picture of where consumer-facing schemes meet the operational realities of the recycling industry, what each side enables, what each side requires, and where the trade-offs sit.
  • Gain a practical view of where food surplus forms in retail operations, and how shifting demand patterns, including the rise of food delivery, reshape preparation and packaging across the food chain.

Post-Event Actions:

  • Apply immediately actionable changes to their own household, organisational, or supply chain recycling practices.
  • Explore potential partnerships or commercial engagement with the featured organisations across the recycling and food waste reduction value chains.
  • Continue the cross-sector dialogue through follow-on engagement with the host organization and the wider research community working at the intersection of NGO practice, social enterprise, and corporate sustainability.
  • Share session insights within their own networks to support the shift from sustainability ambition toward coordinated, on-the-ground action.

Speakers

Raymond Mak

Farmacy Group

Co-founder & CEO

Raymond Mak is an AgriTech pioneer dedicated to transforming urban food systems. As Co-founder and CEO of Farmacy Group, he spearheaded the development of decentralized Smart Mobile Farms that bring zero-mile agriculture directly into cities — significantly reducing carbon footprints and food waste to deliver high-value ESG impact.

His commitment to sustainable growth earned international acclaim when he won the APEC Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Award (MSME category) for Farmacy’s replicable green business model.

To build localized resilience, Raymond and his team established Farmunity, an innovative business-in-community initiative. By converting underutilized urban spaces into smart indoor farms, Farmunity blends STEM education, ESG values, and social entrepreneurship. This self-sustainable model empowers local communities and students to grow fresh produce for low-income families, driving long-term environmental and social impact.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

1) Develop a resilient, self-sustainable business model for lasting social impact

2) Build an ecosystem where every stakeholder in the community, across sectors and backgrounds, has a role to play to make a difference, and eventually get benefited from it.

3) Public and private sector leaders to create a more enabling environment for robust social innovation for sustainability

Eric Swinton

V Cycle Company Ltd

Co-founder & Chief Empowerment Officer

Mr. Eric Swinton founded V Cycle with the belief that environmental solutions should create both ecological and social value. Through V Cycle, he works with schools, businesses, and the wider community to promote plastic reduction and responsible recycling. The team also collects plastic waste locally and transforms them into high value products, creating job opportunities and supporting elderly waste pickers along the way. With more than 15 years of experience in recycling, sustainable product development, offshore manufacturing, and business development, Eric combines practical industry knowledge with a passion for community impact. He is also a frequent speaker and educator on environmental and circular economy topics.

Alfred Weston

New Life Plastics Ltd

General Manager

Mr. Alfred Weston is the General Manager at New Life Plastics. He has been with the Swire Group since 2011 and joined New Life Plastics in 2022. New Life Plastics is Hong Kong’s first recycling facility dedicated to processing PET beverage bottles to food-grade standards. We work closely with local beverage producers to convert locally collected and processed PET into new plastic bottles, supporting a closed-loop circular economy. In parallel, we collaborate under the Producer Responsibility Scheme (PCPRS) to enhance transparency, improve recycling quality, and raise public awareness about the recyclability of plastic bottles in Hong Kong.

Landico Wong

DFI Retail Group

Senior Sustainability Manager

Landico Wong is the Senior Sustainability Manager at DFI Retail Group. She is a member of the HKICPA, and a Certified ESG Planner of the International Chamber of Sustainable Development. She holds the GRI Professional Certification and GARP Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) qualification. She has over 16 years of experience spanning ESG and strategic planning, corporate communications, operational excellence, and business development.

At DFI, Landico manages the Group’s sustainability reporting and implementation of its sustainability strategy. Her key focus areas include waste reduction and recycling, climate change, community support, and sustainable products and packaging. She works across formats and functions to drive sustainability initiatives, foster external partnerships, and support the Sustainability Committee in setting long-term and annual targets while monitoring the progress.

Prior to joining DFI, Landico led the change management team of a chemical company, partnering with business units to deliver sustainability-driven improvement projects, including reducing production waste, optimising supply chain planning, and redesigning packaging and products to improve operational efficiency. With a strong understanding of diverse stakeholder needs—from customers and investors to frontline teams and senior leadership—she is skilled at aligning sustainability with business value, engaging stakeholders, and driving collaboration that leads to meaningful organisational change.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

  • Unlock the value of sustainability by improving resource efficiency, identifying sustainable growth opportunities, and strengthening climate resilience.
  • Make sustainable choices more accessible and affordable, empowering customers, businesses and communities to contribute to positive environmental and social impact.

With thanks to