The World Wide Fund for Nature has developed a program that may help factories in the Pearl River Delta cut carbon emissions by 70 million tonnes a year, while reducing their energy bills.
According to WWF's analysis of the garments, plastics and electronics companies that joined the low-carbon manufacturing program's pilot scheme, 12 to 24 percent cuts in annual emissions were possible at low cost with quick returns.
Business engagement leader Karen Ho Mei-kin for WWF's climate program said if the estimated 50,000 factories in the delta were able to replicate the savings, greenhouse gases may be reduced by 74 million tonnes, roughly twice Hong Kong's own output in 2004 of 37,144,000 tonnes.
The scheme requires manufacturers to analyze, manage and reduce their carbon performance through the green group's software and checklists, with the total certification package costing HK$15,000.
"Implementing the program can improve the competitive edge of Hong Kong factories and the whole delta as they compete with other countries such as India and Vietnam," Clothing Industry Training Authority executive director Philip Yeung Kwok-wing said at yesterday's launch of the low-carbon manufacturing program.
"Consumers are now looking for products made with environmentally friendly materials and low-carbon manufacturing processes to mitigate the impact of the products they choose to buy," he said.
Going green would also keep companies ahead of tightening national energy standards, Yeung said.
Hong Kong-based Leverstyle, a garment manufacturer with 6,000 staff, joined the pilot scheme. It is expecting to recoup the cost of overhauling its water, cooling and ventilation systems at its four factories and office in the delta within a year and a half, realizing some HK$2.45 million in annual electricity savings.
The water-intensive company has installed solar hot water heaters, and is planning to build a 1 million-square-foot plant in Huizhou that will include 40,000 square feet of outdoor greening.
According to chairman and chief operating executive Stanley Szeto Chi-yan, overhauling its energy dependent systems will enhance profitability and competitiveness.
"We expect to reach cost savings of 2.16 million yuan (HK$2.45 million) a year in five plants, with investment payback in less than 1.5 years," he said.
