Composting food waste on-site at schools doesn’t just benefit the environment by diverting food waste from landfills, it also provides an invaluable learning education opportunity for students. Wah Yan College in Hong Kong, with the support from the Environmental Protection Department, purchased Oklin’s food waste composter.
Mike Lai, a teacher at Wah Yan College says the most important thing in promoting environmental protection is to raise public awareness towards the issue. “We are willing to work harder to raise our students’ concern towards environmental issues. We want to pursue the message that recycling not only applies to papers, plastics, or aluminium cans, but also food waste, and that ‘rubbish’ can be turned into useful materials. Another important message is that environmental protection just requires easy steps. Putting the food waste into the decomposer is not difficult. Everyone is able to help protect the environment.”
At Wah Yan College, Food Waste Ambassadors from each class collect a bucket filled with unconsumed food to the canteen where Oklin’s composter is located. At the end of each lunch break, Food Waste Managers empty the collected food waste into the composter. The compost is emptied from the machine weekly, and the resulting compost used on school grounds.
Composting food waste on-site not only reduces the need to have waste hauled away to landfills, it has helped raised awareness in the school community on the importance of protecting the environment.
Tsang Chi Ho Matthew, a Food Waste Manager, says, “I think the scheme is meaningful because Earth made itself a home for us, so we need to do something for it too.”
Install Location | Hong Kong |
Install Year | 2013 |
Machine Model | GG10 |
Food Waste Processed/Day | 25kg |
Food Waste Source | Food waste collected from meals and cafeteria |
Compost Usage | Reused in school grounds, fields, and as plant fertilizer |