Case study: How Hang Lung Properties treats waste responsibly
As a leading Hong Kong property developer, possessing and managing top quality properties across Hong Kong and eight cities in mainland China, including commercial, office, residential, serviced apartment, industrial/ office and car park properties, Hang Lung Properties implements a wide range of measures to reduce waste generation at source, facilitate recycling and promote waste disposal in a responsible manner. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2017 Sustainability Report by Hang Lung Properties published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Waste treatment and disposal is a growing environmental challenge, especially for densely populated cities like Hong Kong and major cities in mainland China. Accordingly, Hang Lung Properties encourages its tenants, customers, suppliers and contractors to join forces in waste reduction. In order to treat waste responsibly Hang Lung Properties took action to:
- properly handle construction waste
- dispose of hazardous waste responsibly
- promote waste recycling
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Hang Lung Properties has identified;
- How Hang Lung Properties proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Hang Lung Properties to treat waste responsibly
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2017 Sustainability Report Hang Lung Properties identified a range of material issues, such as legal compliance, ethics and integrity, energy efficiency, occupational health and safety, risk and crisis management, employee attraction and retention. Among these, treating waste responsibly stands out as a key material issue for Hang Lung Properties.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Hang Lung Properties engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Employees
| · Biannual two-way performance appraisal · Biannual town hall meetings · Breakfast/ lunch with senior executives · Staff focus group discussions · Team building activities · Staff intranet and corporate newsletter |
| Investors & Shareholders | · Sustainability reporting, benchmarks and indices · Investors interviews, meetings and site visits · Annual General Meeting |
| Tenants & Customers
| · Customer engagement surveys · Tenant satisfaction surveys and interviews · Social media and corporate newsletter |
| Suppliers & Contractors
| · Regular project meetings · Regular screening and performance evaluation · Focus group discussion · Online survey |
| Local Communities
| · Flagship community partnership programmes · Community events · Community consultation · Corporate newsletter |
| NGO partners, Academia and Industry Associations | · Online survey · Sustainability Innovation Workshop · Conferences, seminars and networking events |
| Governments & Regulators | · Regular meetings · Site visits by government officials · Government consultations |
| Media
| · Media interviews and meetings · Media announcement and press release · Social media |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify material topics, Hang Lung Properties carried out in-depth interviews with 14 representatives from key stakeholder groups, including senior executives, investors, tenants and NGO partners. Subsequently, to prioritise the topics identified, Hang Lung Properties conducted an online sustainability survey completed by 202 respondents from all internal and external stakeholder groups.
What actions were taken by Hang Lung Properties to treat waste responsibly?
In its 2017 Sustainability Report Hang Lung Properties reports that it took the following actions for treating waste responsibly:
- Properly handling construction waste
- In Hang Lung Properties’ large-scale property development projects in mainland China, a significant quantity of construction waste is produced, at its construction sites. To properly handle construction waste, Hang Lung Properties requires its contractors at every site to follow its Construction Waste Management Plan, regarding the recovery, handling, transfer and disposal of construction waste. To minimise waste disposal, Hang Lung Properties has set project-specific recycling targets for individual sites, with at least a 50% construction waste diversion rate from landfills and incineration facilities.
- Disposing of hazardous waste responsibly
- There are three main types of hazardous waste generated across Hang Lung Properties’ These are used fluorescent lights, rechargeable batteries, and clinical waste generated by Hang Lung Properties’ tenants with medical services. To minimise pollution and all kinds of environmental risks, Hang Lung Properties commissions licensed service providers for collecting and handling hazardous waste for proper disposal.
- Promoting waste recycling
- To facilitate recycling for its customers and tenants, Hang Lung Properties provides recycling bins and arranges collection services for paper, plastics, metal, glass bottles, food waste, rechargeable batteries, toner and ink cartridges at its properties. Additionally, Hang Lung Properties supports festive waste recycling and, for example, collaborates with a contractor to collect Christmas trees for recycling. Moreover, as food waste takes up the greatest share of municipal solid waste in Hong Kong, Hang Lung Properties provides, since 2013, food waste recycling services to some of its F&B (Food & Beverage) tenants. In 2017, under this service, a total of 15,907 kg of food waste was collected from tenants at The Peak Galleria and Amoy Plaza. In mainland China, Hang Lung Properties’ Riverside 66 in Tianjin also participates, since 2014, in the food waste segregation and recycling pilot scheme organised by the Tianjin Heping Environmental Protection Bureau, to support the local government’s efforts in food waste management. Hang Lung Properties also seeks to raise the environmental awareness of its employees, customers and tenants in waste reduction and recycling and, in 2017, organised various campaigns across its Hong Kong portfolio to promote waste reduction, such as red packet reuse, mooncake sharing and donations, and book exchanges.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is:
Disclosure 306-2 Waste by type and disposal method
Disclosure 306-2 Waste by type and disposal method corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
- Business theme: Spills
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
- Business theme: Waste, Water-related ecosystems and biodiversity
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
- Business theme: Waste
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Hang Lung Properties, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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