【 #USTentrepreneur】A major Hong Kong restaurant chain has joined hands with HKUST students to make beer out of surplus bread in a bid to help local start-ups and raise funds for charity.
People become more concerned about environmental problems as the advancing society sees an expanding population with increasing levels of education. However, a heightened awareness of environmental protection alone cannot resolve the pollution problems we are currently facing. According to the data available from the Environmental Protection Department, as many as 11,057 tonnes of municipal solid waste were disposed to the landfills daily in 2019, about 30% of which, or 3,353 tonnes, were food waste. Recently the daily food waste generated by industrial and commercial activities has surged from less than 400 tonnes in 2002 to more than 1,067 tonnes in 2019. The problem is getting very serious.
Members of a startup team at HKUST, the Breer, tried to mitigate the problem. They decided to turn their environmental protection project on reducing surplus food into “social innovation”. They made the self-sustainable entrepreneurial move after having consulted Mr Donny Siu, Acting Director cum Head (Entrepreneurship Programs) of the University’s Entrepreneurship Centre (EC). The team collected the surplus bread to brew craft beer, bringing the bread back to the food supply chain. By this way, food waste could be reduced and recycled. “Waste” was then transformed into something of economic value.
【 #科大創業家】香港一間大型餐飲連鎖店與科大學生聯手用剩餘的麵包製作啤酒，以幫助本地初創企業，並為慈善事業籌集資金。
隨著人口不斷增長、社會進步、人民教育水平上升，我們的環保意識亦隨之增加。然而，只提高環境保護意識，仍未能解決當前面對的污染問題。根據環保署資料顯示，在2019年，每天有高達11,057公噸都市固體廢物需棄置於堆填區，當中約3,353公噸為廚餘，佔約30%。近年，工商業產生的廚餘，由2002年每日不足400公噸，上升至2019年每日超過1,067噸，情況相當嚴峻。
有見及此，科大初創團隊the Breer經過與創業中心署任主任兼主管蕭觀明商議後，就嘗試將提倡減少剩食的環保項目以「社會創新」的自我可持續的創業方式，回應這個環境污染問題。他們將回收剩餘白麵包來釀造手工啤酒，將它重新帶進食物供應鏈，這既可以減少廚餘浪費，同時又可以升級再造，把「廢物」轉化成有經濟價值的東西。
More – SCMP: https://bit.ly/3dY1QxZ
#HKUST
#HKUSTentrepreneurship
#HKUSTEntrepreneurshipCenter
#EntrepreneurshipCenter
#Startup
#Entrepreneurship
#香港科技大學創業中心
#初創
#USTentrepreneur