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Partners & Projects

Hong Kong: Urban Food Sharing Platform Project

Project Date:

March 2009 – December 2019

Partners:

28 local organisations located in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories

Background

Food waste remains one of the most severe environmental challenges today. Globally, roughly a third of the world’s food is wasted, despite roughly 70% being perfectly edible. According to the United Nations, wasted food accounts for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention its role in exacerbating issues of world hunger and malnutrition.

Over the course of this decade-long project that began in March 2009, more than 6,940 tons of food was recovered and redistributed across communities in Hong Kong. Collaborating with local organisations across Hong Kong, EarthCare Foundation (ECF) supported the creation of an urban food sharing platform. From 2016 to 2019, these food recovery and sharing efforts benefited over 3.65 million people in the city, generating meaningful social impact while also combating the enormous environmental burden of food waste.

Project Features

Having identified food waste as a major issue in urban centres, ECF sought to establish a collaborative platform that funded projects and community organisations that engage in food recovery efforts. At the time, this project was the first-of-its-kind, with awareness of food recovery and donation yet to reach a mainstream audience.
With this platform, a community food recovery kitchen was created -the first in the city. Initially, vegetables from markets were collected and redistributed, and this later widened in scope to include other types of food. Simultaneously, ECF promoted the early launch of food recovery programmes across various districts. The supported programme was later adopted by the HKSAR government and scaled across the city. We are proud to have been a contributing player in leaving behind this far-reaching impact.
As the programme focused on supporting disadvantaged communities while safeguarding the environment, much of the day-to-day operations involved distributing recovered food to families in need. In particular, families receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, low-income earners, the unemployed, and the elderly were targeted.
Over the course of the project, ECF worked with 28 local organisations across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, alleviating the financial cost of food for these communities. These partners were diverse, from district groups to women’s organisations, labour centres and other grassroots teams.

Project Outcomes

As a result, 6,948.76 tons of food was recovered between 2009 and 2018, benefiting 3,654,590 people in our city from April 2016 to March 2019. On average, the recycling cost per kilogram of food stood at $3.70. Overall, the project exceeded initial targets, with food recovery volume hitting 111% of the original goal and the targeted number of beneficiaries totalled 164%.
Partnering with local-level communities and grassroot organisations also enabled same-day recycling and distribution within these compact geographical scopes. This was a strategic decision implemented to reduce energy consumption incurred from transportation and storage.