HK's Only Beverage Carton Recycler To Lose Factory

Hong Kong's only beverage carton recycling firm has warned that the 13 tonnes of waste it deals with each day will end up in landfill sites if it's forced to close down, after it was told to leave its base at an industrial estate in Yuen Long.

Mil Mill, which signed a three-year lease for the site in 2019, said on Monday that Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) wants to turn the industrial estate into a high-tech park.

The company's founder, Harold Yip, said he is disappointed with the decision and had earlier been told there was a good chance the lease could be renewed.

"At that time we were the first beverage cartons recycling facility and also a green tech, quite innovative. And they were more than happy to have our presence in the industrial estate," he told RTHK.

"But then in 2020, they got a new strategy to develop this location for high-tech, particularly micro-electronics. That's why they changed the strategy and don't want us here."

Yip said he doesn't want to close the factory as this would mean at least three tonnes of beverage cartons and 10 tonnes of mixed paper would go to landfill sites every day.

He said the Environmental Protection Department has contacted him to say three government sites will be up for tender shortly, but he doesn't know if they are suitable for Mil Mill.

Yip said he would like HKSTP to allow the firm to stay at the Yuen Long site for another two to three years before a pulping facility is completed at Tuen Mun's EcoPark in 2025.

"We will continue to look for new premises and also we are studying some new technology that requires less land, less electricity, so that if we move to a smaller area we would still be able to operate and help Hong Kong to reduce waste," he said.