Utensils made out of environmentally friendly materials have been widely embraced by exhibitors at the 15th Macau Food Festival, according to the annual event’s organizer, the United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macau.
The association’s vice chairman, Lo Kam Kuan, told journalists yesterday afternoon that since the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) had pushed for decomposable tableware to be used and had begun providing financial support last year, local eateries have been willing to switch to utensils that are better for the environment.
“As they had already used environmentally friendly tableware last year, the practice has already been recognized among [eateries] this year,” he said. “I hope they’ll continue to provide them after the festival for the sake of carbon reduction.”
It is said that this tableware, which costs double that of ordinary utensils, takes only 18 days to decompose naturally in soil. Furthermore, if burnt it emits much less carbon than other utensils.
Only 10 percent of the 122 booths at the food exhibition failed to provide the decomposable cutlery. This was due to their offerings, namely dessert and certain types of Japanese food, which are incompatible with the environmentally friendly utensils that were approved by the organizer after reviews.
The organizer also assembled a task force to patrol the event to see if any restaurant was in violation of their regulations. Violators will be dropped from future events as punishment.
Lo added that the limited amount of options presents challenges for the restaurants in extending the use of these utensils to their individual business operations.
“Large-scale restaurants seldom use them, but it’s easier for the smaller ones, given their amount of consumption, to provide the utensils that fit their food and operation,” he said.
In addition, the Environmental Protection Bureau organized a visit to the food festival for around 40 students with their teachers and parents, armed with their own tableware, to encourage the message of protecting the environment and avoiding food waste.
The Macau Food Festival ends on November 29.
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