A glass containers recycling program for local hotels was launched in Hong Kong on Monday.

A total of 11 local hotels have joined and volunteered to jointly organize and fund the program. They include the Eaton, Four Seasons, Grand Hyatt, InterContinental, Langham Place Mongkok, Mandarin Oriental and some other ones.

Administered by the Hong Kong Hotels Association, the program aims to recover and recycle beverage glass containers generated by the participating hotels in the course of business.

"This event is only an important start and we hope that glass recycling can be further extended to more hotels or other sectors in the near future," the Hong Kong Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau said when officiating at the launching ceremony on Monday.

The glass containers collected from the participating hotels will be delivered to a glass recycler in Tuen Mun where they will be crushed into glass sand to replace natural river sand in the production of paving blocks.

"The recycling of glass containers helps reduce waste and conserve natural resources," Yau added.

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2008)