Sustainable Solutions Limited

RECYCLING IN
TOWER BLOCKS

TURN WASTE INTO CASH! 

(read the South China Morning Post article opposite)

SEE SOME OF OUR RECYCLE STACKS AND UNITS FEATURED HERE 

Read on for Information on Recycle Stacks Designed for Residential / Commercial Tower Blocks...

We are a Hong Kong based organisation involved in recycling in Hong Kong and Asia called Sustainable Solutions Ltd (SSL). Please read our COMPANY PROFILE page to learn more about us.

SSL has fitted out 32 residential / commercial tower block estates in Hong Kong, through 37 separate projects, using the Recycle Stacks, Rows, Units and Recycling Bags placed on each floor (waste separation facilities being delivered, pictured right and below). A total of over 4,000 recycling facilities servicing almost 16,000 apartments (please visit OUR CLIENTS page). These Stacks are designed to fit into the limited space available inside tower blocks. Our aim is to set up a system of recycling on every floor of residential and commercial towers, and bring high quality recycling facilities to the household / office.

This recycling system has been proven to be the most effective and efficient way to recycle domestic waste, and is also the initiative of the Hong Kong Government. A survey by the Civic Exchange in Hong Kong (a non-profit government think-tank) showed the potential annual return revenue per household for recyclable waste to be HK$41.40 (paper, aluminium cans and PET plastic bottles). Effectively, a Recycle Stack will pay for itself in less than 1.5 years if collection is carried out efficiently. In the two estates surveyed 68 - 90% (respectively) of residents, said they would recycle if they had the facility outside their apartment.

Over the first six months, statistics from the Royal Peninsula Estate (Hung Hom) have shown that with our Stack placed on each floor you can collect almost 9 times more domestic recyclable waste than if waste separation bins were placed in the lobby area only.

The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) and The Business Environment Council (BEC) support recycle bins on each floor. "The collection system at the moment, where you have bins at the bottom of apartment blocks, is not very effective because it is not convenient,'' said Andrew Thomsen, the council's chief executive officer.

Data shows that only 14% of Hong Kong's citizens recycle, the remaining stating that it is "too inconvenient". Having recycling facilities on each floor drastically reduces this inconvenience (South China Morning Post, Property Section, 29th March 2006).

So, what does does this mean for recycling in Hong Kong?

1.	Residents in tower blocks can recycle far more conveniently and efficiently.
2.	Estate management companies can generate more revenue from the extra domestic recyclable waste collected.
2.	If the system were implemented in all housing estates in Hong Kong, thousands of tonnes of waste would be recycled and saved from landfills.
3.	The Hong Kong Government website states that domestic waste amounts to 2.1 million tonnes per year. Each tonne of waste sent to a landfill costs taxpayers a total of HK$830 or HK$1.75 billion each year. Currently, only 8% of this waste is recycled however, 53% could potentially be recycled. The government could save millions of dollars by having recycle containers on each floor of housing estates. Visit: http://www.info.gov.hk/
4.	With the waste being recycled throughout Hong Kong times by nine, hundreds of new jobs will be created in the recycling industry at such places as the new recycling park in Tuen Mun.

Would your estates be interested in setting up a recycling system such as this or maybe just a pilot scheme to test the effectiveness of a tailor-made Recycle Stack placed on each floor? Ask to see a sample.  

The photo on the left shows how the Stacks can be adapted to have the Units enlarged. In this particular case the two upper General Refuse Units are modified into one to cater for larger bags.

Having a facility to recycle on each floor might well be a positive selling point for prospective homeowners (recycling education starts from the home!).

Hong Kong political party, the DAB, and the Government EPD has been working on a scheme where recyclable dry waste and wet waste (general refuse) are encouraged to be separated in the household. One of the incentives for this scheme is that there could be a charge of HK$10 for every black bag that goes into landfill. The two types of waste are placed into different coloured bags which then go into two different corresponding waste bins. SSL has adapted its designs to cope with this system and has created the DRY / WET Recycle Stacks and Units (the wet general refuse bin is optional).

One satisfied estate in the Mid-Levels stated: "Our residents got used to the new refuse / recycle bin quickly and are now dividing their wet and recyclable waste.  The bin size is perfectly suited to the limited area at the rear staircase." (January 2005)

We would be grateful if you would pass this information and website address onto your environmental representatives, colleagues, residence committees and other property developers / estate management offices.

For recycling project funding support in your estate, in Hong Kong, call the EPD hotline (+852) 2838 3111

Sustainable Solutions Ltd.

Below are some of the estates we have fitted out:

Blessings Garden          Towers: 1 Recycle Stacks: 30