Hong Kong-based entities of Pernod Ricard – Pernod Ricard Asia HQ, Pernod Ricard Hong Kong and Macau and Pernod Ricard Travel Retail Asia – will be helping to tackle the growing problem of throw-away fashion and glass by partnering over 200 of its employees with non-profit organisation ‘HandsOn Hong Kong’, turning waste into reusable items for people in need.
Known globally as ‘Responsib’ALL Day’, it will see local employees creating street mats for the homeless and bath mats for the elderly out of discarded t-shirts and upcycling unwanted bottles into glass lamps that will all be donated to four respective non-profit organizations and schools in need.
Cyril Sayag, Vice President, Corporate Affairs of Pernod Ricard Asia, says that by participating in upcycling workshops such as these, we all have the chance to bring life back to glassware and textiles that would otherwise be going to landfill.
“Sustainability and Responsibility have always been at the heart of Pernod Ricard and that’s why we want to foster circularity across the business, to encourage employees to reimagine the way they use, dispose, and minimise waste,” says Mr Sayag.
“For the 9th consecutive year, all 19,000 employees of Pernod Ricard in 86 countries are mobilized on the Responsib’ALL Day to minimizing waste and make the most of resources in their local community.”
Every minute in Hong Kong, 1,400 t-shirts are being sent to landfill as a wasted resource, adding up to 110,000 tonnes of textiles thrown away each year. Textile waste is also the second largest source of pollution in the world.*
This is in addition to the 300 tonnes of glass, mostly bottles, sent to landfills every day, despite a local levy on imports made of them into Hong Kong.**
Sue Toomey, Executive Director of HandsOn Hong Kong, says that the generation of waste has been growing at an increasingly alarming rate and Hong Kong’s consumption-led lifestyle is putting enormous pressure on local landfills.
“With more than 300 tonnes of textile waste discarded in the city’s landfills each day, there is a greater need than ever to raise awareness around the importance of reclaiming discarded items and recycling them for local use,” says Ms Toomey. “That’s why partnerships such as this with Pernod Ricard are so valuable to the environmental health of the local community.”
The initiative follows Pernod Ricard’s 2030 Sustainability & Responsibility roadmap , “Good Time from a Good Place”, which focuses on all aspects of the business from ‘grain to glass’ and supports the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Its four pillars, Nurturing Terroir, Valuing People, Circular Making and Responsible Hosting, bring alive the Group’s vision ‘créateurs de convivialité’ by mobilising all employees to engage with local communities on Responsib’ALL Day across the world on the same day.