To build a collaborative culture, NWD became a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in 2020. WBCSD is a CEO-led organisation of over 200 international companies, which focuses on helping businesses to contribute solutions to societal and environmental challenges around the world. As the first Hong Kong real estate company to have joined the WBCSD, we are working closely with the Council and our peer members to explore solutions and share best practices on topics like built environment decarbonisation, circular economy and cities and mobility to address urgent environmental issues.

Echoing UN SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals, we emphasise the importance of collaboration to create positive environmental and social impacts.

Impact Kommons is Hong Kong’s first startup accelerator driving sustainability outcomes and select United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by integrating startup offerings into our business ecosystem. 30 impact start-ups have been welcomed into the programme through three cohorts since 2019, fostering 36 B2B integrations between them and the Group businesses. Several examples are listed below to illustrate some of our successful integrations.

Rice Robotics – Adoption of Contactless Delivery Robot and Sanitisation Robots at Retail Locations

Rice Robotics is a robotics company aiming to automate the service industry and build the infrastructure for next-generation corporates. The company’s technology has been especially helpful in our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. We have adopted teams of sanitisation robots to sterilise a number of our NWD and K11 premises, including our cultural-retail destination, K11 MUSEA, protecting both shoppers and frontline workers from infection risk. Additionally, we have deployed robots for contactless delivery, maximising safety while supporting customers’ access to key goods and services. The integrations enable us to provide a safer environment for employees, tenants and customers.

V Cycle – Promoting Circular Economy with K11 MUSEA Tenants

In collaboration with social enterprise V Cycle, we collected 150kg of plastic recyclables from participating eco-conscious tenants at K11 MUSEA from April to June 2021. The plastic waste was diverted from landfill and sent to V Cycle after collection, which was then sorted and processed by underprivileged elderly before being repurposed into the stylish and durable K11 Upcycled Umbrella. The fabric of each umbrella is repurposed from the plastic equivalent to 14 standard 0.5L bottles. This campaign not only reduces the burden of plastic on our planet but also uplifts a social enterprise and empowers elderly waste pickers by providing employment opportunities in a safe and fair work environment, realising our mission of creating shared value for the community. We have since expanded this programme to include additional K11 MUSEA tenants and extended this programme to Victoria Dockside K11 ATELIER tenants as well.

By partnering with changemakers and young people from different fields, we hope to do good for society with new insights and innovative solutions that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs in our city, as well as creating shared value together with our stakeholders.

Mindfield – Upcycling coffee grounds to biochar for soil remediation with tenants

As a first mover of its kind in Hong Kong, urban agricultural enterprise Mindfield partnered with NWD to engage tenants to collect and recycle coffee grounds from our properties. After collection, the coffee grounds are processed and converted into biochar that can be used as a soil remediation agent and fertiliser in landscaping to improve soil quality. Mindfield partnered with tenants on a pilot project at K11 ATELIER King’s Road, successfully recovering a total of 610 kg of coffee grounds within 3 months. The program was well received by tenants in support of the recycling initiative. Upon the success, we extended the scheme at K11 ATELIER King’s Road and expanded to THE FOREST to experiment with further implementation across our property portfolio.