GREEN@COMMUNITY - FAQ

Under the rebranded GREEN@COMMUNITY, 11 Recycling Stations, 77 Recycling Stores and about 350 Recycling Spots form the community recycling network across the territory, accepting 9 common types of recyclables, including paper, metals, plastics, glass bottles, rechargeable batteries, fluorescent lamps and tubes, regulated electrical equipment, small electrical appliances and beverage cartons.

The collected recyclables are sorted and delivered to the downstream recyclers approved by the EPD for proper treatment and turning into resources, such as secondary plastic materials by local recycling facilities. For the quantities of recyclables collected and the information of downstream recyclers, please refer to the Quarterly Reports available on social media page of individual Recycling Station or Recycling Store.

Newspaper, office paper, and corrugated fiberboard (cardboard) can be accepted. Other types of waste paper (e.g. textbooks, supplementary exercise books, school notes) can also be recycled. Please tear off plastic tape, remove non-paper materials (such as paper clips, staples, etc.) and keep the paper dry before recycling. Please do not deliver the waste papers to GREEN@COMMUNITY if their recyclability is uncertain.

Receipts, tracing papers, tissue paper, hand towels and photographs are not accepted. Most of the receipts are thermal paper-based containing chemical substances that cannot be easily removed from the paper during the recycling process, and thus are not recyclable.

Used books are reusable materials, members of the public are encouraged to donate used books for needy people or organizations. If those used books are not suitable for reuse, please remove non-paper materials such as plastic tape, paper clips, staples, etc., before recycling.

Domestic waste plastics can be generally accepted, such as various types of beverage plastic bottles, personal care product plastic bottles, cleansing product bottles, plastic bags, plastic utensils, plastic containers, packaging materials, CD/DVD discs & cases, styrofoam, etc. Please rinse the plastics and empty the content before recycling.

Rubber/latex (e.g. slippers/flip-flops, balloons), silicon (e.g. collapsible food containers), plastic products with metals (e.g. suitcase), other composite materials (e.g. chips bags and instant noodles packaging bags with aluminum interior coatings, toothpaste tube, toothbrush, play clay, plastic tape, etc.), X-ray plastic films, video and cassette tapes etc. are not accepted. For enquiries, please contact the "GREEN@COMMUNITY" operating organization. Please do not deliver the waste plastics to GREEN@COMMUNITY if their recyclability is uncertain.

Styrofoam is lightweight and bulky leading to high transportation cost. Only a small amount of plastic raw materials can be produced from large quantity of styrofoam after proper treatment having low cost-effectiveness. Coupled with the fact that most of the waste styrofoam is contaminated or contains impurities and thus creates difficulties for subsequent recycling. It is recommended to reduce the use of single-use styrofoam products and explore more environmental friendly substitutes (e.g. durable containers for repeated use). Nevertheless, small amount of styrofoam generated from domestic households can still be handed over to GREEN@COMMUNITY for recycling.

Some plastic toys that can still function are reusable. Members of the public are encouraged to donate toys for needy people or organizations. For broken plastic toys that are not suitable for reuse, please separate the metal and plastic components (e.g. remove the screws) for recycling. Toys made of rubber, silicon or composite materials are not suitable for recycling.

The EPD has been encouraging members of the public to separate various types of recyclables at source. However, it would be very complicated for the public to separate different types of plastics, particularly for those who are new to practise recycling. In addition, most of the public have limited space at their homes, making them difficult to separate different types of plastics. The EPD has been promulgating to standardize the sorting arrangement of 9 common recyclables in Recycling Stores. The plastics are only required to be separated into plastic bottles and other plastics without the need of further sorting into other types. This simple and standardized arrangement is well received by the public, making easier for public to better understand the requirement and thus promoting more people in different age groups to participate in clean recycling. Therefore, we have further extended this standardized arrangement to Recycling Stations hoping that the streamlined arrangement can make it clear for the public to promote clean recycling and take part in it.

In general, the recyclables generated from commercial and industrial premises are relatively single in nature, concentrated and large in quantity, which have relatively better recycling quality and value, and there have been effective ways for such recycling in the market. Therefore, the general commercial and industrial sectors can continue the current practices on collection, reuse and recycling of recyclables when handling the wastes generated from their operation.

Tin cans, aluminum cans, and other metals (e.g. milk powder cans, Poon Choi containers, metal bread tongs, aluminum foil, etc.) can be accepted. Please rinse the metals before recycling.

Compressed gas cylinders/aerosol cans, chemical containers, enameled cast iron pots, non-stick pans and dangerous and sharp items (e.g. chopper) are not accepted.

Beverage bottles, food and sauce bottles can be accepted. Please remove cap and rinse the bottle before recycling.

Glass containers of chemicals. In addition, glass cooking and dining wares, mirrors, tempered glass, window glass, other glass construction materials, and non-glass materials (e.g. ceramics, crystals, etc.) should not be put into glass container recycling bins.

It refers to ten types of regulated electrical equipment (REE), including air-conditioners (single package type and split type room air conditioners, cooling capacity not exceeding 3 HP), refrigerators (household refrigerators with total storage volume not exceeding 900L), washing machines (washing capacity not exceeding 15 kg), tumble dryers (using mains electricity as the only power source for heating and with drying capacity not exceeding 15 kg), dehumidifiers (operating by using the vapour compression cycle with dehumidifying capacity not exceeding 35 litres per day), televisions, computers (desktop, tablet, laptop, notebook), printers (not exceeding 30kg), scanners (not exceeding 30kg) and monitors. Please note that all commercial refrigerator and freezers, as well as household refrigerators with total storage volume exceeding 900L are not regarded as REE.

Members of public can make an appointment with the Government's operator for a free door-to-door collection service by calling the recycling hotline at 2676 8888 or through WhatsApp at 6081 5096.

General small household electrical appliances (e.g. electric fans, coffee machines, vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, microwave ovens, etc.) can be accepted. Other types of small electrical appliances (e.g. bluetooth headphones, digital dictionaries, computer hard disks, game consoles, mobile/landline phones, USB cables, power cables and power strips/extension units, etc.) can also be recycled.

For hygiene reasons, electrical appliances for clinical use and personal care devices (e.g. electric shavers) are not accepted.

General luminaires are accepted, including LED luminaires.

Portable rechargeable batteries generated from household can be accepted, such as Li-ion, NiMH and Ni-Cd contained in household equipment like mobile phones and notebook/tablets. Please cover the battery terminal with masking tape before recycling, as a safety precaution to prevent contact between terminals or other metal surfaces during storage and transport.

Disposable (primary or single-use) batteries (e.g. alkaline, zinc carbon, button cells, etc.), lead acid batteries and vehicle batteries are not accepted.

Spent mercury-containing lamps generated from household can be accepted, including compact fluorescent lamps, fluorescent lamps (straight tubes and other shapes), and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps. Please reuse the packaging of new lamps to place the used lamps before depositing them in the collection box for recycling as a safety precaution.

LED light bulbs from household can be accepted for recycling at GREEN@COMMUNITY. Please reuse the packaging of new lamp bulbs to place the used LED bulbs before depositing them in the collection box for recycling as a safety precaution.

All luminaires are not accepted under this category. In addition, incandescent lamps are not accepted.

Milk cartons and aluminum foil cartons can be accepted for recycling. Please cut, clean and remove the plastic cap before recycling.

GREEN@COMMUNITY does not accept aluminum foil plastic bags as there is no proper and sustainable recycler outlet at present.