Feeding Communities, Cutting Emissions: How Greeners Action Turned Wet Market Surplus into Social Impact
Asia Pacific - Food waste -
Hong Kong generates around 3,500 tonnes of food waste daily—about 35% of its municipal solid waste—and much of this comes from wet markets, where space and refrigeration limitations force vendors to discard perfectly good produce. From 2013 to 2023, Greeners Action piloted a food donation program at Cheung Sha Wan market, collecting unsold fruits, vegetables, baked goods, and canned foods from 20 participating vendors each night and distributing them to low-income communities. Over nine years, the initiative diverted 439,734 kg of edible food from landfills, supported 343,843 people, and cut emissions by 1,602.43 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, all while providing improved nutrition to vulnerable households. The program highlights the enormous potential for food rescue across Hong Kong’s 126 markets and underscores the importance of developing sustainable models for food donation, addressing food safety concerns, and formalizing food rescue as a public service.
GAIA’s NDC Tracker aims to provide quick data and country profiles through the lens of the Environmental Justice Principles for Fast Action on Waste and Methane, which guides policymakers on how to craft programs and policies for tackling methane that can also help address interconnected equity issues. With this tracker, we hope to support communities with monitoring country-level commitments and progress, identifying gaps and opportunities to advance this critical agenda.
Infografía | Mosca soldado negra: una alternativa poco conocida en América Latina
Latin America & the Caribbean - Residuos orgánicos -
La larva de la mosca soldado negra es una alternativa poco conocida en América Latina, pero con un enorme potencial. Usada de forma controlada, convierte residuos orgánicos en proteína para alimentación animal y en biomasa que mejora los suelos.
Impulsar sistemas comunitarios de cría es una oportunidad ambiental, social y económica.
Fuente: Black Soldier Fly Biowaste Processing, Eawag – Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 2021.