Streets are paved with glass

HONG KONG: Recipe: Crush two glass bottles into fine splinters. Mix with 0.9kg of coal ash and construction waste and 1.04kg of cement. Put the mixture under intense pressure in a brick-making machine for 25 seconds.

Follow the instructions and you won't have a tasty party cake but a 2.6kg "eco-glass" brick that can be used to pave roads.

Each day, some 213 tonnes of glass is thrown away in Hong Kong's domestic waste. About 97% of it is sent to landfills, and only a tiny portion is recycled.

To help remedy the situation, Swire Properties has launched a pilot glass recycling on its 12 housing estates, involving 20,300 households.

"Since we began the scheme in September last year we have collected 230,000 bottles or 50,000kg of glass so far at the 12 residential projects," Swire Properties environmental affairs manager Amie Lai said.

The glass collected is taken to recycling plants in Sau Mau Ping and Tuen Mun and converted into  eco-bricks.

Lai, a chartered environmentalist and engineer, said the 50 tonnes of glass that Swire collected could be used to produce up to 125,000  eco-bricks, and the company had already used some in various  projects.

"The trial results for the bricks in terms of their durability has been positive since Swire used them for paving in Taikoo Shing," she said.

Lai recalls thinking when she started the campaign that every Hong Kong household uses glass bottles and that there had to be a use for the glass they were throwing away.

"I soon found out that there are two glass recycling plants in Sau Mau Ping and Lung Kwu Tan in Tuen Mun," Lai said.

"Next, we had to draw up plans to solve how to transport the glass to the plants."

After teaming up with the non-profit Hong Chi Association and the Hong Kong Dumper Truck Drivers Association, she said, the campaign finally got under way in September last year.

To encourage owners and tenants to recycle their used glass they were rewarded with gifts such as towels in exchange.

"We hope this scheme will promote greater environmental awareness among residents, customers and contractors, and provide a platform for collective action on effective waste management," she said.

Swire Properties has also developed a long-term plan to reduce waste across its Hong Kong properties. Last year, about 8,700 tonnes of solid waste from its properties was recycled.

In addition to recycling paper, plastic and metal, the company has worked with its tenants to recycle food waste, cooking oil and electronic waste. — SCMP