Major Hong Kong drinks manufacturers join forces with green groups for initiative aimed at increasing city’s dismal recycling rate

Hong Kong’s biggest drink manufacturers have made an unprecedented pledge to work with green groups and raise the recovery rate of single-use bottles and containers in the city from single digits to more than 70 per cent in just six years.

The targets under the Drink Without Waste initiative – run on a voluntary basis – were announced on Thursday by a new coalition calling itself the Single-use Beverage Packaging Working Group, which comprises charities and environmental groups, as well as drink producers, bottlers, recyclers and retailers.

Strategies studied include levying beverage producers and importers to fund a “cash on return” scheme for plastic bottles and reducing single-use packaging for drinks by installing more water dispensers around town.

Producers are also being urged to review packaging standards and use materials or designs that can facilitate easier recovery or recycling, such as eliminating PVC labels and reducing the weight of packaging.