The local government is aiming to allow private sectors to devote more resources in clean technologies with an obvious increase of budget for CleanTech activities amounting to HK$8 billion for more than 4,200 projects for both local and foreign companies. Hong Kong and the Mainland China have also signed a free trade agreement known as the ‘Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)’ that grants Hong Kong businesses greater access in the mainland market. This agreement enforces the status of Hong Kong as a gateway to China.
Smart Building & Green Living Technology Key Facts
In Hong Kong the first carbon emission source is building consumption.
- 42,000 buildings belong to private institutions
- +8,000 high rise buildings and skyscrapers
- Hong Kong people live and work in 24% of the city total area
Smartcity-Project:
- Kowloon East: The project SmartCity @KowloonEast is the pilot area to explore the feasibility of developing smart city and a new green business district in Hong Kong.
Government Initiatives:
- BEAM is the first green building assessment tool, which provides a wide range of relevant information relating to the planning, design, construction, commissioning, management and maintenance of a building.
- Promotion of the low carbon living in HongKong with: ZeroCarbonBuilding (ZCB) was built in 2013 and serves as an exhibition center.
Opportunities for Swiss Companies (Smart Building & Green Living Technology)
Green technology is the most important aspect of future building development moving forward. Hong Kong real estate players are looking for innovative and high-end solutions to be incorporated at every stage of the building construction (architecture, design or engineering). Swiss companies should target Hong Kong’s leading property developers, focusing on high end properties, for example: Great Eagle Holdings Ltd, Henderson Land Development Co.Ltd.
High quality, high-tech and eco-friendly products are becoming the standards, home energy-saving solutions, building response to local climate changes in summer and winter, renewable construction materials, noise control (acoustic balconies and windows) and household appliances (home monitoring digital solutions, air purifiers).
Waste and Water Management & Recycling Key Facts
- Hong Kong is a rich city with third-world quality recycling
- The region produced 3.7 million tons of municipal waste in 2015 cycled through 13 landfill sites
- An average Hong Kong resident throws away around 1.4 KG of household ‘waste’ daily
- Hong Kong offloaded 90% of its rubbish to Mainland China for recycling (scrap, metals, plastics, rare metals in electronic goods, unusable and contaminated food and medical leftovers) creating further environmental issues for Chinese cities
- In 2019, one big step will be the introduction of a “waste charge”, which would force residents to pay approximately HK$0.011 per liter of rubbish collected (around HK$33-54 per household / per month, which is around 3-7 CHF)
- Plans for a HK$10 billion dollar incinerator on Lantau island, that should burn around 30% of the city’s total output overall.
- Lack of development of recycling processes for families and businesses to separate the different kinds of waste (food, plastics, glass) at the source, before it’s collected
Opportunities for Swiss Companies (Waste & Water Management & Recycling)
- Swiss companies may partner with big corporations in need of internal solutions to manage and recycle waste (Hong Kong Airport for example).
- Swiss companies have the opportunity to collaborate with one of the private players (Veolia and Sita) in Hong Kong’s recycling industry.
- Energy from waste: By taking part in incinerator projects, waste separation techniques or gas recovery from landfills can be converted to renewable electricity by launching cooperation with existing landfill operators in Hong Kong.
If you would like to further evaluate the opportunities related to the Hong Kong cleantech-market or find out more, please get in touch with Daniel Bont, S-GE Senior Consultant for Hong Kong & China. Contact
