Environmental, Social and Governance Report 2020-21 28 29 Our Net-Zero Journey Introduction Materiality Environment, Social and Governance Sustainability initiatives ESG frameworks Table 11 (Percentage of Recycled Categories in HKUST) Table 12 (TotalTrash vsTotal Recycling Amounts) Graph 9 (Trash vs Recycling Amounts) Waste HKUST follows Cap 311 which is Hong Kong’s Air Pollution Control Ordinance Law Act. It was modified in 1989 to include Section 7 which defines 10 air control zones for Hong Kong (Including the Port Shelter Air Control Zone where HKUST is located). Section 7 also defines air quality criteria to include Sulphur dioxide, total suspended particulates, respirable suspended particulates, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, photochemical oxidants (as determined by ozone levels) and lead. These are classified as "Harmful Emissions". In addition to compliance with external regulations, HKUST’s Health, Safety and Environmental Office (HSEO) evaluates the emissions to the air that come from laboratory exhaust (fume cupboards and specialized exhaust) to determine whether emissions are excessive or could endanger roof top operations such as maintenance work or the animal facility. Emissions that could be harmful or a nuisance to HKUST’s neighbours are addressed by giving recommendations for correction, scrubbing or changing practice. Waste Generation Overview in 2020/21 In 2020-21, HKUST’s waste generation to the landfill was 57% less than the base year. This is due to the combination of effective strategies that focuses on 4 key areas namely recycling, food waste, composting, and reductions at source (e.g., preventing waste from entering the campus in the first place.) There has been constant increase in recycling over the past few years where in 2019-20, it increased 22% compared to 2018-19 and in 2020-21, it increased 15% compared to 2019-20. Some of this is due to the increasing the number of recyclable items collected, and also to an increase in recycling infrastructure throughout the campus. The recycling program also benefits from “smart” digital solutions that allows facilities teams to measure waste and recycling amounts on a daily basis by location.The top 3 recycled categories are shown inTable 11. Operational Waste is Eliminated Waste Reduction Measures HKUST’s LG7’s Waste Center is equipped with a waste compactor and RFIDintegrated electronic scale. This allows the workers to properly record the weights of individual waste collection bins from different locations throughout campus.They can also monitor waste disposal on a site-by-site basis. Since March 2021, HKUST identifies waste of departments through a QR code system on trash bags. This allows facilities teams to collect real waste data and to identify problem areas immediately when they arise. The data collected also allows comprehensive facilitation of waste policies and related action plans. Due to the resumption of normal operations on campus, there were more people on campus. Therefore, compared to 2019/20, in 2020/21 food waste amount increased to 46% compared to 30% in 2019/20. In the 2019-20 academic year, waste to landfill dropped from 2,323 tons to 1,790 tons, while the recycling amount increased by 20%. The waste diversion rate was 33%. These figures further improved in the 2020-21 academic year where the waste to landfill dropped from 1,790 tons last year to 1,439 tons (20%) while the recycling amount increased by 15% compared to 2019-20 academic year. The waste diversion rate of 2020-21 academic year also increased up to 42%. The 2020 Challenge set a target of eliminating 50% of the baseline amount of waste to the landfill. That target was met through a combination of increased recycling, food waste collections, and operational strategies (e.g., elimination of materials at source). HKUST now collects 15 types of recyclables ranging from common paper, plastic containers, metal, wood, polyfoam, animal bedding and landscape waste. Through more aggressive recycling initiatives, HKUST looks to divert 75% of waste away from landfills to achieve the HKUST 2028 Sustainability target. . Items FoodWaste Compostable (landscape and animal bedding) Paper andWood 2019/20 30% 32% 17% 2020/21 46% 22% 15% Year 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 Total Trash (Tonnes) 2,323 1,790 1,440 Total Recycling Amount (Tonnes) 746 897 1,031 Operational Emissions do not Harm People or the Environment 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2018/19 TotalTrash (Tonnes) Total Recycling Amount (Tonnes) 2019/20 AcademicYear Tones 2020/21
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