Greenpeace urges Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Sports Park to improve sustainability
Green group estimate that 860,000 disposable items, including 510,000 paper cups, were used during Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament
The three-day Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament generated about 860,000 disposable items after spectators were banned from bringing their own reusable containers, according to Greenpeace.
The group said the operator should adopt the system as soon as possible, with the newly open stadium expected to host at least 40 more large-scale events this year.
“Otherwise, the more mega-events the park hosts, the bigger the snowball will be. More and more disposable tableware would be produced [after each event], and that would fundamentally violate the park’s goal in sustainability,” Greenpeace campaigner Leanne Tam Wing-lam said.
Lam said the group learned that the sport’s governing body, Hong Kong China Rugby, tried to negotiate with the park to bring back the initiative this year, but to no avail.
Jamie Farndale, Hong Kong China Rugby’s general manager of club development and sustainability, told the Post on Monday that green cups “could indeed become a viable option” for the park when it became more established and had gained insights into event frequency and cup reuse.
“However, given that this was the first event and Kai Tak’s primary focus was on getting operations under way, we strongly encouraged them to utilise fully compostable packaging, ensuring that organic material was collected and processed correctly through their on-site composter,” Farndale said.