Coming Soon!

Partners & Projects

Hong Kong SAR: Green Circular Economy Development

Project Date:

August 2006 – February 2016

Partners:

Social enterprises in Hong Kong

Background

EarthCare Foundation (ECF) has placed emphasis on advancing circular economy initiatives in Hong Kong since our inception in 2004. As opposed to conventional linear models that employ a ‘take, make, dispose’ mindset, circular economy practices prioritises minimising resource wastage and maximising the value of our materials.

Based in Hong Kong, this project championed circularity by introducing eco-friendly products, promoting innovative business models, and shaping market dynamics to support the development of sustainable circular economy. Working with numerous small-scale social enterprises in the city, our partners promoted environmentally-friendly habits and waste reduction in society. Circularity is not just a solution for tackling the interrelated issues of climate change, waste and pollution, but is also crucial for sustainable and inclusive economic development.

Project Features

ECF supported cooperatives and social enterprises that sold eco-friendly organic food and local furniture brands. The aim was to promote upcycling and refurbishing practices to reduce resource inefficiencies and landfill waste, as well as strengthen the development of the local economy.
From 2013 to 2016, our project widened its scope to support green burial practices. Through the Green Funeral Programme, sustainable funeral services such as eco-friendly paper caskets, dried flowers, and farewell decorations made of recycled paper were introduced. Traditional burial services often involve the unsustainable production and consumption of these products, making eco-friendly alternatives an important solution to reduce waste.
Finally, our circular economy initiative established an eco-friendly production-consumption model at the community level. By promoting circular consumption patterns, the project aimed to foster a local economy that would ultimately be more energy, emissions and resource-efficient.

Project Outcomes

Over the course of our decade-long initiative, our circular economy initiative achieved several key milestones. In 2004, ECF supported a local women’s cooperative in Hong Kong to promote sustainable lifestyles while also offering flexible employment. Just a few years later in 2007, our project pushed through the launch of the city’s first-ever elementary school that used nature-education as its primary teaching approach.
ECF furthered our impact in ushering in circularity in Hong Kong by supporting a local social enterprise dedicated to organising group purchases of local agricultural products.
The final years of this project were also marked with clear successes. In 2014, local artisans received assistance to establish a social enterprise that used locally recycled wood to craft furniture. ECF also provided seed financing to a green burial service social enterprise in the same year, which has over time developed into an industry-leader in the field of sustainable burial service provisions.