{"id":26386,"date":"2024-03-19T10:30:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T02:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/?p=26386"},"modified":"2024-03-19T10:30:22","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T02:30:22","slug":"v-cycle_eng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/v-cycle_eng\/","title":{"rendered":"V Cycle: Circular Economy from Responsible Recycling & Love for Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While it could be staff in uniform and neat, shining waste collection bins that cross your mind when we talk about \u201crecycling\u201d, a rather miserable image would, more often than not, pop up if it\u2019s about \u201cwaste picking\u201d, which is mostly done by underprivileged seniors \u2013 despite the fact that both waste collection and waste picking are by nature part of resource circulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to bring industrialisation back, middle- or large-sized, and create job opportunities, and sustainability training to young people, through this Hong Kong Re-industrialisation.\u201d Founder of V Cycle Eric Swinton talked about the start of the social enterprise. \u201cI want to change the stigma of environmental protection among the public \u2013 it\u2019s not poor and dirty, at all. Recycling can be fashionable, trendy and practical.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we can tell from the sports jersey-style team t-shirt that Eric is wearing, on which the Chinese character of waste \u201cpicking\u201d (\u201c\u62fe\u201d \/sap6\/) creatively replaced by the young, lively homophone \u201c10\u201d (\/sap6\/).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V Cycle (Virtuous Cycle) is a social enterprise that was founded in 2017 by Eric Swinton and Cherie Lo. The company is addressing Hong Kong’s environmental issues on two fronts: ecological and social. By integrating these aspects, V Cycle aims to empower the underprivileged and safeguard the natural world.

V Cycle’s primary goal is to establish a circular economy by recycling plastic, paper, metal, glass, and electronic waste from companies and schools. They accomplish this by employing underprivileged waste picking elderly individuals who clean and sort the collected materials. Subsequently, V Cycle upcycles these waste materials into sustainable goods. To further support their mission, the team established the V Cycle Education Foundation (VCEF) to provide recycling and sustainability training workshops and educational seminars. These initiatives empower underprivileged seniors and SEN youngsters. Additionally, V Cycle collaborates with the Unity One Charitable Association to establish LOVE&CARE, which focuses on improving the lives of impoverished elderly waste pickers, young adults with special needs, and children from disadvantaged families.

In 2020, V Cycle was selected as one of the winners of New World Development’s startup accelerator initiative, Impact Kommons. This recognition acknowledges their efforts in hiring underprivileged waste pickers to collect plastic bottles and upgrading them into eco-friendly umbrella, thereby enhancing their quality of life. Through the program’s extensive network, V Cycle can learn from influential industry leaders and gain valuable exposure. Moreover, New World Development can benefit from V Cycle’s innovative solutions to aid their own endeavors.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Connecting the Dots of Resource Management for Circular Economy<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

[Resource Management] [Workplace Culture]<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric considered it destiny for himself, a marketing specialist, to step into the community via founding a social enterprise. It was 10 years ago when he became a volunteer of Unity One Charitable Association during his low tide time, by how he knew about what social problems Hong Kong was facing after paying visits to elderly living alone and children with intellectual disabilities. Out of compassion and the determination to be part of the change, Eric set up V Cycle to offer systematic and realistic support to the underprivileged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought about what I could do to relieve the living stress of elderly waste pickers, increase their income and lift them and their family up.\u201d Eric said. \u201cPicking plastic bottles from trash bins is tough and humiliating and I thought, \u2018Is there a way to offer a comfortable, weather-proof workplace for these seniors?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI talked to St. James\u2019 Settlement, and they happily offered us some space in their Wanchai office. We set up an upcycling center there and let the seniors take care of light workload tasks such as removing plastic bottle lids and stickers and sorting. We also held workshops there, teaching SEN children sewing skills to upcycle textile waste that we collected, equipping them up for future employment opportunities. The workshops are halted for the moment, soon to be resumed after we\u2019ve bettered our senior services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 17 senior staff of V Cycle are mostly residents in the neighbourhood. They work 6 hours per day, 5 days a week, at a rate HKD50 per hour, which is higher than the current Statutory Minimum Wage (HKD40 per hour) in Hong Kong. In this way, the elderly can be part of the green force working a much safer and more comfortable space than where they were. V Cycle also launched a community hub near the centre, which offers freshly cooked and nutritious daily meals to the elderly \u2013 Eric thinks it\u2019s just important to maintain the health of his staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith my experience in production and design, I was originally hoping to recycle and shred plastic bottles in Hong Kong, then ship them to the mainland for processing and using the resulted yarn and fabrics for upcycling designs. This would be an ideal concept of circular economy.\u201d But with China\u2019s waste import ban in 2018, Eric changed his mind and decided to \u201cReMade in Hong Kong\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI was inspired by Precious Plastic \u2013 just like how their entire recycle to upcycle processes can be done within the Netherlands; we can, too, all done within Hong Kong.\u201d Eric continued. \u201cWe sort the recycled plastics and press them into boards in our Tuen Mun factory, then make them into furniture or decorations. We also collaborate with corporates and use those boards for customised items the likes of umbrellas and jackets.\u201d So, the whole chain from raw materials, design to production, as well as collaboration and education, completes the circular economy. What\u2019s more, V Cycle can accomplish the company mission: tackling Hong Kong\u2019s environmental issues on two levels: ecological and social.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Green Fashion 2.0 & Business Opportunities Created by the Trend of ESG<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

[Customer Supplier Relationship]<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

V Cycle boasts a client list, in different industries and scales, such as Watsons, Mannings, Sino Group, Link REIT, SF Express, HKEX, Lee Hysan Foundation, Hung Fook Tong and Disney. \u201cI\u2019m lucky, everything went smooth in our collaborations with these big names.\u201d Eric admitted. \u201cI think it\u2019s karma \u2013 we give, and we take. And I won\u2019t be too bothered if it wasn\u2019t smooth. I believe that challenges and difficulties fuel personal growth. You won\u2019t learn to solve a problem if there\u2019s no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also thanked the trend of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). \u201cBig or small, companies started to invest in ESG because of the legal regulation. When there\u2019s demand, there\u2019s supply. V Cycle\u2019s services cover the \u2018E\u2019 and \u2018S\u2019, which fit the need of our clients.\u201d Eric remarked. \u201cTake our first client, L\u2019Oreal and Kiehl\u2019s, as example. We helped them to recycle empty product bottles and mask packaging and upcycle those waste into reusable foldable cups. I still remember that we were sorting the waste on a small 6-seater table \u2013 our scale was that small, but we\u2019d gained trust from such a big name. It felt unreal, like a dream!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the small table has expanded to a 6,000-sq.f. factory in Tuen Mun, but nothing much else has changed \u2013 Eric remained determined in recycling, poverty alleviation and education. \u201cI still believe that environmental protection starts with the change in mindset, that\u2019s why we focus on education. For example, when we held public workshops for HandsOn Hong Kong and HKJC (Hong Kong Jockey Club), we always start from an introduction about waste management, recycling and climate change. Then we\u2019d move to the trial part, letting the participants to understand themselves how hard it is to just sort waste, before moving to the recycling factory visit. In this way, they\u2019ll understand why we, a member of the society, have to recycle, the best practices of recycling, and the best ways to support the recycling ecosystem of our city.\u201dTalking about the expansion plan, the startup would like to set up this kind of community care sorting & recycling centers in all 18 districts, so that the total amount of recycled waste (most of them plastics, with a small portion of glass, paper and metal) can be increased from 13-14 tonnes to 250 tonnes per month; meanwhile, they\u2019d like to hire 8 more elderly staff (from currently 17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to the collaboration between V Cycle and SF Express, Eric believed that this was a mutually beneficial relationship. V Cycle originally relied on its hired drivers to collect recyclables two days a week, but the cost of each trip was high and the recycling volume was small. Fortunately, SF Express is currently helping V Cycle in collecting recycled items at about a hundred points, including B2C, retail stores, schools and offices. Customers can place orders through SF Express’s app, and SF Express uses its strong network of their deliverers to collect the recycled items from these locations. This business model has been greatly reducing V Cycle\u2019s transportation costs. Through SF Express’s extensive logistics network resources, recyclables can be collected in various regions in Hong Kong. These recyclables are placed in V Cycle\u2019s designated green recycling bags for easy identification, and SF Express will transport these items to their warehouse, which will then be redistributed to V Cycle\u2019s recycling centre. The recyclables will then be sorted and processed by elderly workers. With their respective advantages, SF Express can reduce the packaging waste generated by its stores, such as express bags, bubble wrap, styrofoam, etc., while V Cycle can continue to provide employment opportunities to poor elderly people to support their recycling works. This business model allows both parties to create shared value and accelerate the promotion of environmental protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe that through collaborations between brands and companies, together we can achieve the best results in sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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V Cycle is a winner of New World Development\u2019s Impact Kommons 2020, and one of the invited exhibitors of Knowledge Primer 5 of Partnership for Sustainability Leadership in Business (PSLB). The PSLB project is initiated by the Centre for Civil Society and Governance, The University of Hong Kong, and supported by The Hongkong Bank Foundation. It is aimed at fostering sustainability leadership and collaboration in the business sector of Hong Kong through knowledge transfer, capacity building, and network development; in particular, the Project strives to foster strong partnerships between big corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in pursuit of sustainability.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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V Cycle (Virtuous Cycle) is a social enterprise that was founded in 2017 by Eric Swinton and Cherie Lo. The company is addressing Hong Kong’s environmental issues on two fronts: ecological and social. By integrating these aspects, V Cycle aims to empower the underprivileged and safeguard the natural world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_grids_gutter_x":"","_grids_wide_width":false},"categories":[89,91,87],"tags":[98,99,95],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26386"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26417,"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26386\/revisions\/26417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccsg.hku.hk\/pslb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}