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Eight mooncake manufacturers have joined efforts to reduce the use of packaging materials in their products by signing a one-year Voluntary Agreement on the Management of Mooncake Packaging with the Environmental Protection Department (EPD).
"There are three new signatories to the agreement this year - Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong and Langham Place Mong Kok, Hong Kong. They will join the other five local mooncake manufacturers Arome, Heng Heung, Maxim's, Saint Honore and Taipan who signed the agreement last year when it was first launched," an EPD spokesman said today (September 24).
"Initial information available showed that the manufacturers who signed the agreement last year made a good start for their efforts. Overall, the signatories have contained this year's packaging usage to 2008 level with individual manufacturers reducing packaging usage by between 2% to 10% after they changed the packaging design this year," he said.
Under the agreement, the manufacturers will commit to conserve resources and contain the use of packaging materials through better design and production processes, with due consideration of the "Environmental Guidelines on Mooncake Packaging Design" issued by the EPD.
The manufacturers will also strive to adopt recyclable packaging materials and support and facilitate the recovery and recycling of used packaging materials.
"Millions of boxes of mooncakes are consumed every year, generating waste such as metal containers and other packaging materials. The agreement strengthens the manufacturers' participation in the environmental management of mooncake packaging," the spokesman said.
The public are encouraged to return used mooncake containers and packaging through EPD's source separation facilities or recovery programmes organised by other organisations. Enquiries can be made to the EPD at 2838 3111 regarding the recovery of mooncake containers through the EPD's source separation facilities.
Ends/Thursday, September 24, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:30
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