Terry Ting, managing director of Wilson Group, a local enterprise dedicated to improve people’s life with sustainable and eco-friendly designs. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Environment-conscious industrialists in Hong Kong leverage their pragmatic know-hows and avant-garde innovations to arm companies at home and abroad with advanced environmentally-friendly facilities and eco-friendly mindset, which underpins their strong ESG (environmental, social, and governance) track record.
The world now is riddled with problems — a stark reality that has been thrown into relief by the global catastrophic pandemic. Climate change, ecological imbalance and biodiversity erosion are among the underlying culprits for this humanity and health crisis. It’s no surprising that a call for action to avert the environmental and ecological virtuous cycle is heard again as the clock is ticking while the impending threat to humanity is looming large. Companies and governments all around the world are finally woke to the alarm the Mother Earth is sounding to us, as well as other social issues, such as diversity, inequity, inclusion and human well-being.
Riding on the ESG zeitgeist wave, investors start placing a high premium on companies’ ethical portfolios and overall ESG performance. ESG is not just a buzzword, but has been practically incorporated in companies’ agenda and investors’ evaluation metrics.
In recent years, a host of companies from Europe, the US, Chinese mainland and Hong Kong approached us, interested in adopting our wastewater treatment system and eco-friendly materials in their operations. I would say 80 percent of our clients are intent to improve their ESG performance in order to attract more investors.
Terry Ting, managing director of Wilson Group
“In recent years, a host of companies from Europe, the US, Chinese mainland and Hong Kong approached us, interested in adopting our wastewater treatment system and eco-friendly materials in their operations. I would say 80 percent of our clients are intent to improve their ESG performance in order to attract more investors,” says Terry Ting, managing director of Wilson Group, a local enterprise dedicated to improve people’s life with sustainable and eco-friendly designs. Ting is also a committee member of Hong Kong Young Industrialists Council. He won the Young Industrialist Awards of Hong Kong in 2020, with a comprehensive on-site wastewater treatment system that can purifies wastewater to Grade I before discharge, a membrane treatment system that recycles 30 percent of wastewater for reuse in production and eco-friendly products made from recycling materials. Some of the techniques and materials are patented or obtain certificates issued by the Recycled Claim Standard and the Better Cotton Initiative.
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In the past, Ting says, the public commonly perceived textile industry with dyeing as one of the most polluting killers to the environment and was even demonized by media footages showing dyeing factories dumping untreated colored wastewater into the river. This stereotype about the textile industry is jarring to Ting who believes that dyeing wastewater is not toxic and heinous whatsoever “if treated correctly”. So, he led the company to invest in and design innovative technologies to bust the misperception.
In his pursuit for the environmental solutions to mitigating the textile industry pollution, HKYIC has provided all-out support, connecting him and other member industrialists with experienced practitioners in the industry, to absorb insider knowledge and advice for refining and optimizing his products.
“Since a lot of activities and events were restricted because of pandemic over the past years since I was awarded. But I have gained a lot of exposure of sophisticated knowledge and support from HKYIC,” says Ting. “For instance, we visited the Hong Kong Design Institute and had fruitful exchanges with their teachers and students. And our members of HKYIC are also leading companies or industrial leaders from different sectors.”
HKYIC has gone great length to acquaint its members with ESG concept and ESG international frameworks by, for instance, organizing an online conference with Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels in May. “Through the online discussion I obtained a lot of first-hand information about the ‘Green Deal’ treaty in EU. The term ‘Carbon Certificate’ has caught my attention. In order to prevent EU companies shift their carbon intensive production aboard, or direct imports, to take advantage of lax standards, EU importers may need to buy carbon certificates as green import tax. This may not have immediate effect on us but at the end of the day, our EU based customers, such as Adidas and Puma have to apply the new measures in reaction to such a new regulation as coal boiler reformation or direct substitute for coal,” Ting speaks of his memorable takeaways from the meeting.
Slightly different from Ting who is both inputting and outputting ESG know-hows, Daniel Cheng, a member of HKYIC and honorary president of Federation of Hong Kong Industries, has been busy with channeling his nearly-30 years of hands-on ESG experience into the consciousness and practice across the board.
Cheng, managing director of Dunwell Enviro-Tech Limited, started out as a traditional industrialist making metal component parts applied to videocassettes. He didn’t get engaged in the environmental industry until 1993. His training background in industrial engineering and his getting hands dirty in industrial operations leading 60 American employers in Los Angeles afforded him a revelation in his early career that was arguably way ahead of his time — “In the whole process of production, it’s very possible and it's imperative to maximize your resources, which means no waste: waste no time, human resources, material, and energy.”
Daniel Cheng, a member of HKYIC and honorary president of Federation of Hong Kong Industries. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
After he returned to Hong Kong in 1983, Cheng continued producing metal stamping components for videocassette sector, applying the same methods that ensure zero scraps and zero waste. To his dismay, however, he somehow found himself an outlier as everyone from the top down seemed oblivious of the environment percussion caused by industrial production.
A company in Yuen Long Industrial Estate, which recycled waste and motor oil, went bankrupt because it could hardly survive in the old Hong Kong where environmental awareness was a complete void. But Cheng perceived it as an opportunity to lead the charge for a change. He bought the bankrupt company. “Dealing with waste oil had technologies heavily involved and produced a lot of wastewater in turn, jeopardizing the environment. We then transformed that traditional distillation technology to a vibrating membrane filtration technology, which reduced energy from 350 ℃ down to 85 ℃, saving tremendous energy. We also developed different technologies to recover the wastewater in the process so that the water can be reused,” says Cheng, whose contrition earned him the Young Industrialist Awards of Hong Kong in 1995, Innovative Entrepreneur of 1996 and the winner of Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Industrial Engineers Award in 1999.
I usually tell people don't think that being green is saving the world. We’re not god and we are selfish in nature. People don’t think that far. Saving the environment, at its core, is saving our own extended family, our children, grandchildren… who are close to us. That's more relatable and more instrumental for a behavioral change.
Daniel Cheng, HKYIC member
The widespread indifference and ignorance to environmental hazards is justifiable, reasons Cheng, as all manufacturers were scrambling to survive. “You can’t tell them to save the earth when the factories are going bankrupt,” reflects Cheng. But the bottom line is, he continues, how to survive in favor of the earth. “My approach was to invent smart technologies and techniques that enabled the plants to do the good deed while saving money at the same time.”
Since he joined the HKYIC Cheng has bended over backwards to introduce the sustainable production and management ethos to other member companies, especially those back in the old days who were strangers to the mindset because they were fixated on profit-making. To them, it’s a steep learning curve, but thankfully they all finally come around to the green initiation.
HKYIC is an instrumental venue unifying industry players and stakeholders. Many are also members of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries. It’s tight-knit community and “industrial family”, cites Cheng. “Everybody knows one another so well,” which renders dialogue and mutual support on sustainable manufacturing easy and organic.
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“I usually tell people don't think that being green is saving the world. We’re not god and we are selfish in nature. People don’t think that far. Saving the environment, at its core, is saving our own extended family, our children, grandchildren… who are close to us. That's more relatable and more instrumental for a behavioral change,” concedes Cheng.
Lee Kum Kee, the international house name specializing in manufacturing sauces and condiment, is one of the early beneficiaries of Cheng’s wastewater recycling system, which has been working since 2005. Altira Macau, a well-heeled resort hotel in Macao, is another.
Today, not only does ESG performance become a determining factor in equation for investors to reckon with, but also global ESG assets are expected to exceed $53 trillion by 2025, representing more than a third of the $140.5 trillion in projected total assets under management. Under the pressure and scrutiny by conscious consumers, companies are working on their ESG management at a full tilt, in order not to lose the game, observes Ting. “In our apparel industry, incompliance in the ESG requirements, such as failure in carbon reduction index, may result in losing orders or even business termination to the top global apparel brands. Therefore, if I were an investor looking for a long term relationship, this would absolutely be part of the risk assessment,” contends Ting. On the other hand, a shining ESG performance is indicative of its potential growth in coming future. It would be a great potential in its business growth in coming future, he says.
About Hong Kong Young Industrialists Council (HKYIC)
Established in 1989 and officially registered in 1992, HKYIC comprises the awardees of the Young Industrialist Awards of Hong Kong, a widely-acclaimed event organised annually by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries. The awards aim to recognise exceptional young industrialists who have made outstanding achievements in various industries and remarkable contributions to the economic and social development of Hong Kong. Over the past three decades, more than 240 industrialists have received the awards.
As of today, HKYIC has some 150 members. Being one of the major chambers in Hong Kong, the Council strives to unite young industrialists to promote the development of Hong Kong industries and to strengthen economic cooperation between Hong Kong, Chinese mainland and other parts of the world. HKYIC endeavours to maintain a close relationship with the Hong Kong industrial and commercial sectors and to forge synergies between the academia and the industry. Their members are also enthusiastic about social involvement, public welfare and national affairs through actively participating in social and charitable events in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.