Hong Kong: Leftovers Punishable

In Hong Kong's restaurants and eateries, the (disciplined and educative) idea of a local gastronome has attracted a great deal of both sympathy and controversy. As recently reported in the “Christian Science Monitor”, diners who take more from the buffet than they can actually eat have to pay a fine. Such behaviour on the part of Hong Kong's gastronomes is motivated by the simple fact that around 3,100 tons of food from this prosperous metropolis end up in the area's landfill sites each and every day – around one-third of the city's total waste production. In addition, Hong Kong has problems finding space for all this rubbish and has no alternative dumping ground in view. (eap)