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“Recycling Day” Creative Short Film Competition

To encourage the public to showcase their creativity and promote the concepts of waste reduction and recycling in engaging ways, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) organises the “Recycling Day” Creative Short Film Competition. We cordially invite members of the public to capture and share the message of waste separation at source and recycling through their lenses, reaching more people.

 

Competition Theme

The theme of this competition is “Community-wide Recycling”, with a focus on promoting the following three areas to encourage the public to practise waste reduction and recycling:

  • Source Separation: Source separation of waste is the first step in recycling. Separate recyclables from daily live, such as waste paper, metals, plastics and glass bottles, for recycling.
  • Clean Recycling: Clean recycling helps enhancing the quantity and quality of recyclables. Before recycling, simply clean the recyclables and remove any residues and impurities.
  • Smart Recycling: Make good use of the smart recycling facilities of GREEN@COMMUNITY and the GREEN$ App to practise self-service recycling.

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Entry Categories

  • Open Category: Hong Kong residents.
  • School Category: Local full-time tertiary, secondary and primary students who hold valid student cards.  
     

Eligibility

  1. Participants in both the Open Category and School Category may participate in the competition as individuals or as teams. Each team may have no more than five members.
  2. Each individual participant, participating team and its team members may submit only one entry in either the Open Category or the School Category. The EPD reserves the right to disqualify all related entries and prize entitlements in the event of duplicate submissions, cross-category and cross-team participation.
  3. Persons involved in the creation, filming and production of the entry must be registered participants or team members. This restriction does not apply to actors appearing in the entry.
  4. For the School Category, all individual participants or all members of a participating team must be studying in full-time schools in Hong Kong during the competition period. This restriction does not apply to actors appearing in the entry. Team members may come from the same or different schools.
     

Entry Requirements

  1. Theme: The entry must focus on the core theme of “Community-wide Recycling”, covering “Source Separation”, “Clean Recycling”, and/or “Smart Recycling”.
  2. Format: There is no restriction on the format. Story dramas, animations, documentaries, thematic explorations, and other creative presentations are all accepted.
  3. Language and Subtitles: Entries may be in any language, but they must be accompanied by Chinese and/or English subtitles.
  4. Video Length: Entries must be between 30 seconds and 3 minutes.
  5. Video Format: Both vertical (9:16) and horizontal videos (16:9) are accepted.
  6. File Specifications: Entries must be submitted in MPEG4, MOV or MP4 format. The resolution must be 1920 x 1080 pixels (Full HD).
  7. Originality: Entries must be original works filmed by the participants or teams. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, such as generated images or voiceovers, is not allowed. Entries must not have been commercially sold, publicly published, or awarded in any other competition before submission. All musics and/or video footages used must be royalty-free or copyright-free, and the source must be indicated in the entry. Any form of plagiarism will result in disqualification.
  8. Commercial Restrictions: Entries must not involve any commercial activity, brand promotion or product placement.
     

Judging Criteria

The competition consists of two stages of assessment:

Stage 1 (Preliminary Selection)
The EPD will review all entries and shortlist outstanding ones to proceed to the next stage according to the entry requirements above, as well as criteria such as relevance to the theme, creativity and video production quality. The EPD reserves the final right to determine the selection results and the number of shortlisted entries. 

Stage 2: Final Selection
Shortlisted entries will be assessed by a professional judging panel, accounting for 50% of the total score, and by public voting, accounting for the remaining 50%. Details are as follows:

Professional Judging Panel (50% of the Total Score)
The professional judging panel will assess entries according to the following three major criteria:

  1. Theme Delivery (40%): Whether the entry clearly conveys the core messages of “Source Separation”, “Clean Recycling”, and/or “Smart Recycling”.
  2. Creative Expression (30%): Filming techniques, storytelling approach and originality.
  3. Video Production Quality (30%): Editing, sound effects, visual quality and overall fluency.

Public Voting (50% of the Total Score)
Shortlisted entries will be uploaded onto the official social media pages of the EPD or “Big Waster”. Members of the public may vote for their favourite entries by giving a “Like”. Each Like will be converted into a voting score. The entry with the highest number of Likes will receive the full score, while the scores of other entries will be calculated proportionally.

Final Score = Professional Judging Score (50%) + Public Voting Score (50%). The Champion, First Runner-up, Second Runner-up and Merit Awards in each category will be awarded according to the final scores.

In addition, among all shortlisted entries, the entry receiving the highest number of Likes will receive the “Online Popularity Award” (regardless of entry category). All shortlisted participants or teams will also receive a souvenir each. Details of the voting period and arrangements will be announced later on the relevant social media pages.
 

Registration Period and Method

  • Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on 31 August 2026 (Monday). Late submissions will not be accepted. The submission time shall be based on the system time shown on the computer server of the EPD.
  • Filming Period: Participants are advised to film and record their entries in 2026 to ensure that the content reflects the latest recycling measures and information.
  • Registration Method: Please click here to register.
    Participants or teams are required to upload their entries in advance to a secure cloud platform, such as Google Drive, OneDrive or WeTransfer, for submission. They must complete the registration form on or before the deadline and provide the download link for the entry video, sources of materials, subtitle script if there is dialogue, and copies of student cards (for the School Category only).
     

Awards

The following awards will be presented under each of the Open Category and School Category:

GroupChampion (1)First Runner-up (1)Second Runner-up (1)Merit Award (5)Online Popularity Award (1)
Open CategoryHK$5,000 electronic goods voucher and certificateHK$4,000 electronic goods voucher and certificateHK$2,000 electronic goods voucher and certificateHK$500 electronic goods voucher and certificateHK$2,000 electronic goods voucher and certificate
Student CategoryHK$5,000 electronic goods voucher and certificateHK$4,000 electronic goods voucher and certificateHK$2,000 electronic goods voucher and certificateHK$500 electronic goods voucher and certificate
  • All shortlisted participant and each member of a shortlisted team will receive one “Big Waster” souvenir.
  • All School Category participants or teams will also receive one electronic certificate of appreciation.

The competition results will be announced on or before October 2026. Winners will be notified separately.
 

Terms and Conditions

  • Participants are advised to film and record their entries in 2026 to ensure that the content reflects the latest recycling measures and information.
  • Entries must be original works filmed by the participants or teams. Participants must ensure that they own all intellectual property rights in the content of their entries, including images and audio, and must comply with the relevant copyright laws.
  • If any music and/or video footage are used in an entry, such materials must be royalty-free or copyright-free, and the source must be indicated in the entry. Any form of plagiarism will result in disqualification. If an entry infringes any copyright law or gives rise to any claims due to its lack of originality, the relevant participant or team shall be solely responsible. The EPD shall not accept any liability.
  • If an entry involves any third party, including actors, passers-by, filming venues, music or images, participants must obtain prior consent from the relevant persons or copyright holders, and must ensure that the entry does not infringe any copyright, portrait rights or privacy rights. In the event of any claim, all legal liabilities and consequences shall be borne by the participant or team. Where necessary, the EPD may request the participant or team to provide written proof of lawful authorisation.
  • To encourage real-life filming and creative expression, entries must be produced through on-site filming and manual editing. The use of any artificial intelligence (AI) technology, such as generated images or voiceovers, is not allowed. Otherwise, the EPD reserves the right to disqualify the entry.
  • The copyright of all entries shall belong to the EPD. The EPD reserves the right to use the entries unconditionally and the information of winners, including names, schools and grades, for non-commercial promotion purposes. Such uses include, but are not limited to, reproduction, publication, modification, editing, renaming, exhibition, public display, distribution, broadcasting, promotion and uploading to the Internet for public education purposes, without obtaining prior consent from the participants and without payment of any fee to the participants.
  • Entries must not have been commercially sold, publicly published, or awarded in any other competition before submission. Entries must not involve any commercial activity, brand promotion or commercial product placement.
  • The EPD reserves the right to disqualify any entry that contains insinuating or defamatory content against others, violence, pornography, foul language, indecent or obscene content, or any offensive language or behaviour. The final decision shall rest with the EPD.
  • Once submitted, entries and participant information cannot be amended. Entries will not be returned.
  • Late submissions will not be scored.
  • Participants must not reveal their names or identities in any form in their entries, including school names, or any logos, graphics or information relating to the participants or their schools. Otherwise, the entry will be disqualified.
  • The EPD reserves the right to refuse or disqualify any entry without providing any explanation.
  • The EPD reserves the final right of decision on all Terms and Conditions of the competition, and the right to amend the Terms and Conditions and/or any information relating to the competition without prior notice.
  • The EPD and the judging panel shall have the final decision on the competition results and rankings. No appeal mechanism will be provide
  • All staff involved in organising the competition, including members of the judging panel, employees of the EPD and its competition contractors, are not allowed to participate in the competition to ensure fairness.
  • By submitting an entry to the competition, participants shall be deemed to have fully agreed and undertaken to strictly comply with the terms set out in these Terms and Conditions.
     

Personal Information Collection Statement

1. Purpose of Collection
The Environmental Protection Department, hereinafter referred to as “the Department”, will collect personal data from you in relation to the “Recycling Day” Creative Short Film Competition, including name, contact telephone number, email address, copies of school documents or identity documents, for one or more of the following purposes:

  • processing, verifying and following up on your application and eligibility for the competition;
  • communication and identification during the competition period and judging process;
  • announcing competition results, arranging prize presentation, distributing electronic goods vouchers and conducting related publicity activities;
  • producing, printing or publishing promotional materials, website content, social media posts or public exhibitions relating to the competition; and
  • any other lawful purposes permitted or required by law.

Participants must provide all personal data marked as “mandatory” in the online application form. If you fail to provide complete and accurate information, the Department may be unable to process your application, or you may be disqualified from participating in the competition and receiving any prize.

2. Transfer of Personal Data
The Department will keep your personal data confidential. However, for the purpose of collection set out above, the Department may disclose or transfer the relevant personal data to the following parties:

  • co-organisers, contractors, agents and service providers responsible for organising, implementing and managing the competition, including staff members of the competition contractor or contractors;
  • members of the professional judging panel of the competition;
  • relevant commercial organisations assisting in the distribution of prizes or awards; and
  • any government department or statutory law enforcement agency to which the Department is required to make disclosure under Hong Kong law.

3. Publication of Personal Data
The names, entry categories and school names (applicable only to the School Category) of winners and shortlisted participants, will be published through the “Recycling Day” thematic website, the official Facebook and Instagram pages of the EPD and “Big Waster”, press releases, or other public media channels for event publicity and promotion purposes.

4. Retention of Personal Data
The Department will retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes of collection set out above. Within a reasonable period after the competition has ended, all prizes and vouchers have been distributed, and the publicity period has concluded, normally within six months after the end of the event, all unnecessary personal data and copies of related supporting documents will be completely destroyed.

5. Right of Access to and Correction of Personal Data
Under Sections 18 and 22 of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486), and Data Protection Principle 6 in Schedule 1 to the Ordinance, you have the right to request access to and correction of the personal data provided. To exercise such rights, please email enquiry@epd.gov.hk.
 

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