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The long night begins for Lee Wing-shan just as the grand banquet ends.
It has been more than six months since this 28-year-old spent most of his weekend's nights washing dozens of dishes in a small office pantry borrowed from a friend.
"I had doubts; I was wondering how I could continue with this activity, "says Lee, founder of We-Use in 2016. The tableware company provides reusable cutlery and tableware for events such as banquets, fairs and parties. marathons, delivery of items as well as cleaning.
After starting to buy a hundred ceramic cutlery at a cost of nearly $ 10,000 Hong Kong (US $ 1,274), Lee's business grew as Hong Kong companies became more conscious of environment.
From now on, We-Use is able to organize events with more than 8,000 people and receives between 20 and 50 orders per month. Its table services, mainly ceramic and glbad, were leased 270,000 times last year, nearly five times more than in 2017.
As the company grew, the company developed a partnership with truck drivers and a dishwashing company. She also hired housewives from poor families to clean up the warehouse.
But things did not always go well.
With a single order per month, We-Use was a single women's business in its infancy, with Lee taking care of promotion, delivery and cleaning. While holding a full-time job.
"I did not have a place to do the dishes and I could not afford to help myself. I thought of giving up when I had to manage everything alone, "she recalls.
A strong advocate of recycling, Lee was inspired by the launch of a tableware rental business after finding the amount of disposable waste left behind after corporate events.
"The idea was new in Hong Kong," she says. "When I went to exhibitions [to promote the company]people were confused about what I was doing – and some are still confused. "
Despite a difficult start, Lee chose to stick to it because she "can still see the potential of this service."
"I did not stop thinking: if only the company was bigger with a higher service capacity!"
Lee was barely mistaken about this vision, according to her long-time friend, Annie Yeung On-ni. Former employee of an environmental protection NGO, Yeung joined We-Use as a business manager six months ago. She found a "realistic" solution to Hong Kong's plastic waste crisis.
A government report published in 2017 showed that more than 2,100 tons of plastic per day are dumped in city landfills, which represents one-fifth of all solid urban waste. However, the recycling of plastics dropped to 13% in the same year.
In 2016, the environmental group Green Earth estimated that 5.2 million plastic bottles were thrown in Hong Kong each day, weighing 136 tons.
"I was doing education projects to educate the public, but I felt I needed something more practical, more real," says Yeung. "Now it's like I'm renting a plate or a cup more, it's an extra effort I'm making to reduce plastic waste."
According to Yeung, the success of a We-Use event is based on the transmission of the message to participants: these elements must be returned.
"The signage must be visible and the rules clearly explained. Otherwise, it's so easy for people to become lazy, "says the 29-year-old.
"I saw a marathon runner throw his cup in the grbad and, of course, we could not pursue it," Yeung explains. "The worst case I've seen is a bowl that has been marked by a cigarette butt. It hurt me when I saw it. "
But Yeung and Lee remain optimistic about the future of plastic waste reduction in Hong Kong, pointing out that people are becoming more aware of the environment.
"It's a trend now," Lee says. "Companies want to show that they are making efforts to protect the environment and people are gradually developing the habit of using non-disposable products.
"The whole atmosphere is changing. And we certainly want to be part of it.
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