2021 Sustainability Operations Performance
In 2021, we continued our efforts in working towards the 2028 Sustainability Challenge, which includes 5 operation targets: Energy and GHG, Waste to the Landfill, Water, Landscape and Biodiversity, and Community Well-being.
For waste, the target is to reduce waste to the landfill by 75% compared to the 2014 baseline by 2028. In the past year, our waste generation was 53% below the baseline, in which 77% of the reduction was generated from recycling efforts while the remaining 23% from waste avoidance. We have adopted a set of comprehensive waste reduction strategies with extensive recycling facilities around the campus and the Smart Waste Tracking System to identify source of waste. Food waste and landscape waste were the majority of the recycling programme, accounted for 35% and 31% respectively among all the recyclables and we aim to convert part of them to compost and apply on campus landscape. In response to the launch of Municipal Waste Charging Scheme by Hong Kong Government in 2023, a Municipal Waste Charging Scheme Steering Committee was formed this year to ensure smooth logistics and arrangement in campus housing, catering and offices.
In view of the 2028 energy goal, the target is to exceed the Hong Kong Government energy target by reaching a 15% reduction using the baseline year of 2014. Last year, we consumed 4% below the baseline which was a 2.8% increase since last year that could be explained by the resumption of normal work arrangements and new building construction on campus. Over the past year, projects contributing to energy savings included smart light with gradual dimming performance for common areas, smart thermostats to control local air-conditioning and wireless energy meters linking to a dashboard with meters’ figures. Meanwhile, the PV project which will consist of up to 8,000 solar panels at over 50 locations on campus is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 with the system generating up to 3 million kWh of electricity every year. By taking account into solar contribution to the energy reduction efforts, the energy saving performance will be 6% in total.
Please join us to achieve the 2028 Sustainability Challenge in small actions that could be taken everyday.
