Food waste constitutes a significant portion of the waste sent to landfills in Hong Kong. Swire Properties installed our first food waste decomposer at one of our Hong Kong shopping malls in 2005. Since then, we have been working closely with our hotels, restaurants and tenants to deepen our food waste reduction and recycling efforts. In 2025, we collected 9,115 tonnes of food waste from our Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland portfolios and hotels.

This year, we engaged the Green Council in Hong Kong to implement a monthly inspection programme, offering tenants specific advice to enhance their waste segregation processes. Covering 85 food and beverage outlets across Citygate Outlets, Cityplaza, Pacific Place and Taikoo Place, the programme provided targeted support and guidance, encouraging tenants to properly segregate recyclables from general waste. The programme contributed to a 13.7% increase in food waste collection across our portfolios.

At Taikoo Place, the “Together We Cycle” campaign brought together our Portfolio Management, Property Management and Engineering teams to boost waste diversion. We first talked to F&B tenants to understand key challenges in effectively separating waste. Then, we partnered with our cleaning contractor to streamline the recycling process, providing free green bags, a variety of collection bins to accommodate different shop sizes and a door-to-door recyclables collection service. We also explored opportunities to salvage recyclable materials from renovation and reinstatement projects, enhancing the collection of recyclables while lowering disposal costs. Through this campaign, the waste diversion rate at Taikoo Place improved by 5.4% points.

We conduct waste audits regularly to identify the types and quantities of waste generated and uncover opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle. In 2023, we partnered with the BEC to conduct comprehensive waste audits at Cityplaza and Citygate.

In 2025, we continued partnering with the BEC and extended the waste audit programme to ten office tenants in Taikoo Place. Auditors reviewed each tenant’s waste generation quantity, general waste composition and waste contamination conditions, and then provided insights into their actual and potential waste diversion performance, identifying waste management opportunities through reduction, reuse and recycling. This audit revealed that 65% of general waste currently sent to landfills consisted of recyclables such as food waste, coffee grounds and plastic containers. Detailed recommendations were then disseminated to participating tenants, and the overall insights will be used to shape our tenant engagement strategies.

We also began expanding our waste audit programme at our Chinese Mainland portfolios. The new audits leveraged AI and digital tools to enhance data collection, organisation and analysis. The use of AI will help streamline processes, reduce the manpower and inconvenience of conventional audits and enable more timely sharing of improvement opportunities.

A pilot involving 30 F&B tenants across Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Taikoo Hui Guangzhou and Taikoo Li Chengdu tested this technology. Waste generated by tenants was photographed and categorised, with AI algorithms automatically estimating the weight of the waste, assessing contamination and determining the potential for waste diversion. The results are currently under review.

Cityplaza introduced a new sustainability champion – “Eco-Buddy” – to make recycling fun and interactive for mall customers. Eco-Buddy is a cheerful, autonomous robot that roams the mall, encouraging shoppers to recycle their plastic bottles and aluminium cans. Provided by the mall’s cleaning services partner, the robot was given a vibrant makeover with playful stickers. The initiatives have successfully captured the attention of the general public, families, shop tenants and shoppers through visible environmental educational messages.