EPD gives reassurance over food waste recycling bins

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) on Tuesday said more than 99 percent of its smart food waste recycling bins are functioning normally. The department also said it will hire additional staff to replace and clean them. The statement by the EPD followed recent news reports pointing to overflowing or malfunctioning bins in some public housing estates. The EPD plans to complete the installation of more than 700 smart food waste recycling bins in all 213 public housing estates by August. The initiative aims to encourage residents to recycle food waste, with the waste charging scheme due to start on August 1. The department noted that each bin can collect 120 litres of food waste, and once its inner bin is 70 percent full, the system automatically alerts cleaners to replace it. Officials also said they have established a warning system to expedite the replacement process. “If a bin is unable to operate normally due to being full or malfunctioning for more than an hour, the system will automatically send a notification to the relevant Housing Department estate offices and its cleaning contractors for immediate action,” a spokesman said in a statement. The department said an individual bin can meet the food waste collection needs of at least 500 households. So far, it has installed about 530 such bins in 70 percent of public housing estates. The EPD estimates a participation rate of around 10 to 15 percent from public housing residents in the first year of the recycling programme. It said this rate would likely increase as people become more accustomed to food waste recycling. The department also said it will gradually increase the number of bins based on usage data.