Page 68 - Hong Kong Green School Guide

3. Green School Guide - 3.2 Materials and Waste
Hong Kong Green School Guide 66
3.2.4 Waste Sorting & Food Composting Facilities
Applies to NS & ES
Benefits
• Reduce pressure on landfill sites and help to preserve non-renewable
resources by promoting recycling of waste materials; and
• Promotes behavioural changes and education among staff and student.
Issues to Consider
a. Opportunities
• School can promote waste reduction practices by sorting waste and
composting food.
b. Constraints
• Space for composting facilities;
• Hygiene issues related to food composting facilities;
• Low demand for fertiliser produced from food composting; and
• Limited time and administrative resources to conduct food waste sorting.
Solutions
• Select food composting device that is air tight;
• Maintenance for the food composting device should be minimal but some
general cleaning and maintenance is required;
• Additional recycling bins for varied waste sorting (such as battery, fluorescent
tube, CD & floppy disk, etc.);
• In general, there are two ways to compost food on site for fertiliser use:
- - Food composting machines (those that require electricity use &
maintenance). Please refer to Useful Reference (3) for more information.
- - Natural composting (no electricity required, but hygiene issues must
be carefully managed). Please refer to Useful Reference (4) for more
information.