University of Hong Kong students turn food waste into dog toothpaste through upcycling competition
- ‘Food Waste to Good Taste’ innovation programme challenged science students to rethink how to use food scraps for new products
- Winning invention, Upcycleista, is a toothpaste for dogs made from shrimp shells, carrot peels and pork bone
Dr. Kelvin Cheng, Director of Veolia Hong Kong, presents the first-place award to the winners of the innovation competition, Anson Chan Nok-yi and Gloria Ho Ka-wing. Photo: Erika Makino/Colin WuStudents from the University of Hong Kong (HKU)’s School of Biological Sciences recently had an opportunity to examine how to transform food waste through the “Food Waste to Good Taste” innovation programme competition.
The six-month programme was organised in collaboration with GREEN Hospitality. It encouraged participants to rethink food waste through workshops, seminars and food audits, ending in a competition where students presented their ideas for an upcycled product.
Dr Jetty Lee, an associate professor at HKU and part of the team that led the programme, said it was an eye-opening experience for both students and teachers.
“It was a learning curve for them because they’ve never done this before,” she said.
As part of the initiative, studies were required to create an upcycled product using food waste and develop a plan to bring it to market.
After months of hard work, eight teams finally had the chance to present their ideas to professionals in the city’s food and beverage and hospitality industries earlier this month. Winners of the competition received certificates and cash prizes sponsored by Veolia Hong Kong and The Marriott Group.
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Their ideas included turning food waste into consumable products such as vegetable dye and powder, pasta chips and sauce, rice crackers and energy bars.
But the winning invention was a toothpaste for dogs called Upcycleista, made from food scraps including shrimp shells, shrimp heads, eggshells, carrot peels, and pork bone. Their invention won the team a cash prize of HK$5,000.
The nutrients in their selected food scraps inspired the team to create the toothpaste, which can whiten and strengthen dogs’ teeth. These minerals include calcium carbonate from the shrimp shells and egg shells and calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium from the meat bones.
Team members Gloria Chan Nok-yi and Anson Ho Ka-wing, final-year students in HKU’s food and nutrition programme, reflected on what they learned from the competition.
“The most meaningful takeaway for me was the chance to learn more about food waste upcycling in Hong Kong, which I wasn’t familiar with. Now I [can] explore an alternative career path,” Chan said.
Ho shared the sentiment: “I think the key experience was the brainstorming process; it helped us enhance our creative abilities and learn more about recycling food waste.”