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Letter to the Editor of SCMP - Response to letters headlined "Principals must go 'green' " (Nov 6, 2007) and "Such a waste" (Oct 15, 2007)
I write in response to the letters headlined "Principals must go 'green'" on 6 November 2007 and "Such a waste" on 15 October 2007 from M. Scully of Discovery Bay.
The Environmental Protection Department has been working closely with the Environmental Campaign Committee, the Education Bureau, green groups and schools to reduce and recycle disposable school lunch boxes.
We are urging schools with adequate space to go for distribution of food directly at school. Those schools without enough space may also make a difference by ordering lunches packed in reusable boxes, or demanding proper recycling of disposable boxes after use. With an increased demand from schools, more catering companies are prepared to supply food with reusable boxes which are made of metal or plastic. For disposable lunch boxes, they are now mostly made of polypropylene instead of styrofoam, and are recyclable.
To promote the above choices to schools, we have been providing advice and guidelines, holding workshops and talks, distributing promotional leaflets and videos to principals and teachers. We estimate that the number of primary schools using disposable lunch boxes in the territory has dropped from 75% in 2004 to about 42% in 2006, a sign that our efforts are yielding some results.
In light of the experience gained and information gathered, we have revamped our previous "Guideline on the Reduction of Disposable Plastic Foam Food/Drink Containers" and issued the new "Guideline for Schools to Implement Green Lunch". The new guideline sets clearer goals and provides more detailed recommendations on how to implement green lunch. It also provides schools with more comprehensive information to prevent them from being misled by unscrupulous school lunch suppliers, with the inclusion of two newly compiled lists of green lunch suppliers and disposable lunch box recyclers. The Chinese version of the new guideline has been released (https://www.wastereduction.gov.hk/chi/schools/green_lunch.htm). The English version will be available very shortly.
Secondary school students rely a lot less on lunch provided by schools. We will soon commission a survey of both primary and secondary schools to monitor the progress of our work. With the encouraging results so far, we are committed to work with all concerned parties to further promote green lunch to all schools. I would like to thank M. Scully's interest and support in waste reduction in Hong Kong.
Lawrence Wong
Principal Environmental Protection Officer
Environmental Protection Department
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