Working to Reduce and Recycle Single-use Plastic Items

In 2019, we participated in a number of campaigns and activities to raise public awareness about plastic recycling and promote reducing single-use plastics.

As part of the “Tap, Return, Earn” campaign initiated by Swire Coca-Cola HK Limited, a smart plastic beverage bottle deposit machine was set up at The Loop at Taikoo Place and the Town Square at Citygate Outlets. This machine offers a cash rebate of HK$0.2 per bottle via an Octopus card. Since September 2019, more than 140,000 bottles have been collected via these new installations.

In October and November 2019, Starstreet Precinct in Hong Kong held a plastic awareness campaign where visitors could drop off cleaned plastics at a recycling station in return for offers from tenants in the neighbourhood. Over 720 people registered and participated, redeeming over 1,000 complimentary F&B offers and shopping discounts. More than 26,000 plastic items were collected and sorted for recycling. Tenants and nearby residents are also able to continue recycling with a “reverse vending machine” installed at Three Pacific Place, where tokens and rewards can be earned in exchange for depositing empty plastic bottles. The machine has collected around 10,000 bottles since August 2019.

Swire Hotels and Swire Restaurants also implemented a wide range of initiatives to reduce their consumption of single-use plastics such as the following:

• Retrofitting rooms with a water filtration system to phase out plastic water bottles at EAST, Hong Kong.
• Providing amenities pouches on request only at EAST, Hong Kong.
• Testing bamboo and rice straws at The Upper House.
• Replacing toiletry plastic packaging with rice paper at The Temple House.
• Working to eliminate plastic straws at all Swire Restaurants outlets.
• Replacing plastic cutlery with wooden alternatives at all PUBLIC locations.
• Offering more than 29,000 “bring your own” discounts at all PUBLIC locations.