As Hong Kong enters a new phase of sustainable development with an ageing society, food resource management transcends environmental protection and directly impacts public health, grassroots support, and the capacity of the healthcare system. The large amounts of nutritious food and kitchen waste that go unused daily reflect a need for improvement in existing systems and infrastructure.

The Food Commons Foundation recommends that the government prioritise "integrated resource management of food surplus and food waste," promote cross-departmental collaboration, strengthen community engagement, and enhance the legal framework. Integrating food surplus distribution and food waste recycling mechanisms will improve grassroots diets, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, alleviate pressure on public healthcare, accelerate energy recycling, reduce landfill waste, and contribute to achieving carbon neutrality. This will help build a sustainable city that values food, is healthy, and is inclusive.

Food recycling is an urban infrastructure project, not a charitable endeavour.

Cross-bureau Collaboration Framework

Environment and Ecology Bureau—Food Waste Recovery, Food Waste Pre-treatment Facilities, Resource Management, Landfill Reduction

Food and Health Bureau—Food Safety, Nutrition Education, Chronic Disease Prevention, Public Health Policy

Home and Youth Affairs Bureau/Welfare Bureau—Community Support, Distribution Network, Grassroots Assistance, Volunteer Mobilisation

Strategic Framework and Policy Recommendations

Phase 1:Encouragement

First recommendation: Encourage tax breaks for food contributions

Introducing attractive tax credits to encourage businesses and enterprises to donate edible surplus food to approved organisations, institutionalising goodwill practices and increasing motivation and stability.

• France offers a tax credit of 60% of the book value of donated food, capped at 0.5% of annual turnover, with the remaining balance deductible. This policy has effectively helped food banks recover over 100,000 metric tonnes of food annually, steadily improving their distribution efficiency.

• Italy has implemented a VAT-free food donation policy, protecting the rights of donors and enabling food donations to reach €2 million annually, contributing to waste reduction and supporting vulnerable groups. A tax credit scheme has been introduced to encourage businesses to donate surplus edible food to approved organisations, shifting the motivation for participation from goodwill to institutionalised action.

Second Recommendation: Establish a "Food Cherish Enterprise Certification System"

Provide a system of awards and accreditation to recognise companies who actively reduce food waste and donate food, improving the reputation of companies that care about food and their social responsibility culture.

• Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) encourages businesses to participate in waste reduction and food cherish activities through food waste benchmarking monitoring and policy support and collaborates with food banks and community organisations to promote food cherish concepts.

Phase 2: Overcoming Challenges

Third Recommendation : Enact a "Food Donation Liability Waiver Ordinance"

Clearly protect merchants and charitable organisations that make donations in accordance with the law from the legal risks of civil prosecution, eliminate potential concerns, and stabilise the normalisation of donation activities.

• Since 1996, the implementation of the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act in the United States has effectively exempted companies and donors from legal liability, encouraged a significant increase in food donations nationwide, and become an international model.

Phase 3: System development

Forth Recommendation: Improve the sharing and recycling of leftover food

In addition to helping nonprofits set up dependable and effective methods for gathering and distributing excess food, the government should boost financing for regional logistics and distribution hubs.  For Hong Kong firms, throwing away extra food is cheap, but donating comes with a cost: manpower, food safety, and communication.  Funding shortages and administrative difficulties also affect charitable organisations, which causes food rescue efforts to be disrupted and excess food to end up in landfills.  To increase overall sustainability and efficiency, the government should build institutional links between the community and enterprises by incorporating food recovery into public infrastructure.

• Second Harvest Japan uses comprehensive cold storage and logistics to distribute thousands of tons of surplus food to communities in need every year, ensuring food safety and wide coverage.

Fifth Recommendation: Promote regionalized food waste disposal models

Promote the installation of food waste pre-treatment and recycling facilities at regional waste collection points to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation, improve recycling efficiency and waste resource utilization.

• South Korea uses regional food waste pre-treatment facilities and biogas conversion systems, increasing the recycling rate from less than 5% to approximately 90%, significantly reducing landfill volume and promoting a circular economy.

Sixth Recommendation: Develop an integrated food and kitchen waste recycling strategy.

Establish a dual-track recycling standard to separate "edible leftovers" and "food waste requiring processing," and build a unified management platform to promote process improvement and maximise resource utilisation.

• German corporate canteens widely implement a dual-track recycling system, which effectively reduces food waste and carbon emissions, improves environmental sustainability indicators, and becomes an important indicator of corporate food conservation. Sixth Recommendation: Develop an integrated food and kitchen waste recycling strategy.

Phase 4: Promoting Involvement

Seventh Suggestion: Encourage community and school-based nutrition education

To support the promotion of food appreciation and nutrition education, strengthen health awareness and food values, and enhance public awareness of healthy eating and food appreciation, especially among young people.

• After the popularization of Japan’s “Food Education” curriculum, the amount of leftover food among students was reduced by about 30%, while their nutritional knowledge and good eating habits were enhanced.

Eighth Suggestion: Make good use of the "Green@Community" network to promote food cherish action in the community

Leveraging the Community Green platform, we will collaborate with food rescue groups to set up food sharing days, collection points, and distribution activities, and explore integration with the "Green$ electronic participation scheme." We will also develop and leverage shared refrigerators, food cherish platforms, and volunteer networks to strengthen the culture of sharing and mutual support for surplus food in the community.

• In several places, the Swiss Shared Refrigerator Project has effectively encouraged communal food sharing by delivering dozens of kilogrammes of leftover food daily and raising locals' knowledge of the need of valuing food and supporting one another.

Ninth Suggestion:Encourage forums for community interaction and information disclosure

Establish a food waste and recycling data platform and a food matching platform to promote policy transparency and increase corporate and community participation.

• The UK's WRAP Food Waste Reduction Roadmap provides a comprehensive toolkit and resources to help businesses identify issues, pilot improvements, and embed them into their operations over the long term, resulting in hundreds of millions of pounds in savings and charitable meal distribution. Over 200 major businesses have participated, reducing food waste by an average of 17%, preventing approximately 251,000 tonnes of food waste, and saving approximately £365 million annually.

Phase 5 - Institutional Implementation

Tenth Suggestion: Look into a system of quota donations for big companies.

Drawing on France’s legislative experience, we will encourage large supermarkets to sign regular donation agreements with charitable groups and establish a stable food donation mechanism.

• France’s 2016 Food Anti-Waste Law stipulates that supermarkets must sign food donation agreements and are prohibited from discarding edible leftovers. This has successfully prompted large companies to consistently participate in food conservation campaigns, reducing the total amount of food waste by nearly 28% each year.

Eleventh Suggestion: Formulate the direction of the draft Hong Kong Food Cherish Ordinance.

To strengthen the overall institutional framework and create a complete food recycling system, create comprehensive legislation that addresses food classification requirements, donor safety norms, and legal protections.

• Food waste recycling rates have increased to over 90% in South Korea thanks to the Food Waste Reduction and Resource Recovery Act.  This is mostly because of the weight-based payment system and mandated food waste sorting that have been in place for the past ten years, as well as technological advancements like smart recycling bins (like RFID systems) that motivate individuals to actively sort and minimise food waste.

• Food waste dropped by almost 300,000 tonnes in 2019 compared to 2018 with the enactment of Japan's 2019 "Law to Promote the Reduction of Food Waste."

Institutional Context and Outcomes of Action

With the following successes, the Food Commons Foundation has concentrated on local recycling, sharing surplus food from wet markets, community education, and policy advocacy over the years:

• From June 2009 to March 2025, the Food Sharing Program recovered 11,324 metric tonnes of surplus food and served 9,999,267 people.

• A survey of 307 food surplus recipients conducted between June 18 and July 15, 2024, revealed that the top three common diet-related illnesses were hypertension (51%), diabetes (33%), and osteoporosis (26%), with support for high-fibre foods and healthy eating information being needed.

• 84% of respondents believed that food sharing improved their health, and 92% said it reduced their family's financial burden.

• The most common food items received by respondents were vegetables (82%), fruit (60%), and staple foods (58%).

Save Food• Less Waste•Create a community that is supportive and healthy 

In addition to cutting waste, Save food action has the potential to create a more inclusive, low-carbon, and health-conscious urban community.

Instead of being a city public system, Food Commons activities are being positioned as short-term, charity endeavours.  Corporate gifts come with extra expenses, while nonprofits deal with administrative challenges and resource limitations.  Food waste and kitchen trash recycling ought to be incorporated into municipal infrastructure, much like the removal of street litter is a public service.  Food recycling is infrastructure, not charity.

The aforementioned policy suggestions are incorporated with Hong Kong's unique situation and are founded on successful global experiences and tangible outcomes.  In order to institutionalise Food Wise programs, encourage interdepartmental cooperation, community involvement, and formal development, and collaboratively create a food-conscious, healthy, sustainable, and compassionate urban future, we hope that the government will include them in the 2025 Policy Address.

Food Commons Foundation

31 July 2025

The Food Commons Foundation has submitted recommendations for the 2025/26 fiscal budget public consultation, focusing on creating a sustainable society through enhanced support for food recovery and charitable donations. The suggestions aim to address current economic challenges, reduce food waste, and raise public awareness about the importance of food conservation.

Recommendations Overview

1. Increase Economic Incentives for Food Recovery

• Tax Deductions for Food Donations: It is proposed that the government offer tax incentives to wholesalers, retailers, and restaurants that donate food that is still consumable but nearing expiration. This approach aims to reduce food waste and support social welfare. The initiative could draw inspiration from similar policies in the United States, establishing clear tax standards and simplifying application processes to encourage more businesses to participate. Regular promotional activities would also be held to enhance awareness among companies.
• Expand Food Waste Recycling Programs: The existing food waste recycling initiatives should be expanded to provide free point-to-point collection services for a wider range of public and private organizations, thereby improving overall recycling efficiency. Increasing collection frequency and extending services to small businesses and residential areas, along with providing necessary equipment and training, would facilitate effective food waste management.

2. Cultivate Public Awareness of Food Conservation

• Education in Schools and Communities: The government is encouraged to allocate funds for primary and secondary schools to conduct food recovery activities and train teachers to educate students on valuing food. Community-level awareness campaigns should also be initiated, including a city-wide "Food Conservation Education Month" involving schools, community organizations, and businesses. Interactive activities like workshops would be designed to boost public engagement.
• Promote Eco-Friendly Restaurants: Restaurants should be encouraged to use local and seasonal ingredients, design menus that minimize waste, and offer personalized meal options. Establishing "Eco-Friendly Restaurant Certification" standards with financial support for compliant establishments would motivate more restaurants to adopt sustainable practices.
• Enhance Funding for Food Conservation Education: An increase in funding from the Environmental and Nature Conservation Fund for food conservation education programs is recommended. This funding would support non-profit organizations in conducting educational initiatives within communities, ensuring diverse groups benefit from food conservation education.

3. Increase Resources for Non-Profit Organizations

Additional funding should be directed towards non-profit organizations so they can effectively implement food conservation education and recovery programs within communities. This will help ensure that edible food is not wasted while also benefiting those in need. Special funding should also support innovative community projects aimed at fostering mutual assistance.

The Food Commons Foundation hopes that the government will seriously consider these recommendations to help Hong Kong move towards a greener and more sustainable future.  

Food Commons Foundation

21 January 2025