Green procurement for Hong Kong’s food industry

Abstract

Green procurement is an emerging concept for both sustainable development and environmental protection. This study aims to provide information and recommendations for implementation of green procurement in Hong Kong’s food industry. In this study, overseas green procurement policies were reviewed, and the understanding of green procurement by the general public, and by the catering sectors in Hong Kong were evaluated. Two sets of questionnaire were distributed to the general public and the catering sectors between December 2016 to March 2017. Participants were recruited via convenience sampling, and a total of 200 and 32 responses were received from the general public and the catering sectors, respectively. Results found that the efforts by the Hong Kong Government to promote green procurement was limited when compared with other countries. The results also showed that (1) limited association of demographic characteristics with knowledge and attitude towards implementation of green procurement was established; (2) general public and the catering sectors were willing to support the implementation of green procurement, yet their understanding could be strengthened; (3) the popularity of the existing green procurement related scheme / guideline for food industry were low among both groups; and (4) both groups believed that the current promotion and support from the Government towards green procurement for food industry is not enough. Development of green standards, pilot programmes, legislations, information platforms, as well as industry-specific supporting policies by the Government would assist in promoting green procurement for Hong Kong’s food industry. Apart from these development, relevant public promotion through education is also essential in the process.