Carbon Wallet receives accolades at HKB Technology Excellence Awards 2024 for sustainability initiatives

The app’s innovative and interactive platform encourages eco-conscious shopping choices, supports environmentally responsible retailers and actively promotes a greener future.

Social innovation venture Carbon Wallet, a subsidiary of MTR Lab, has been recognised with distinctions in the App - Retail and Sustainable Technology - Retail categories at the coveted HKB Technology Excellence Awards 2024 for its one-stop green lifestyle rewards platform that empowers users to easily adopt sustainable habits to enhance retail sustainability.

Carbon Wallet has been promoting sustainable actions through its unique "Green In, Green Out" proposition since 2021. The App promotes low-carbon actions, such as recycling and sustainable shopping, by offering Carbon Wallet Points (CW Points) that users can redeem for environmentally friendly rewards, aligning with the principles of sustainability. 

Carbon Wallet users can earn CW Points through six Green Actions, which constitute the “Green In” principle. Meanwhile, CW Points can be used to redeem over 60 types of green rewards, including eco-friendly household goods, vegan skincare products, eco-tours, and MTR rides, embodying the “Green Out” concept. This establishes a full cycle of sustainable consumption that extends its impact beyond individual users. The platform engages government agencies, enterprises, sustainable brands, and green groups to foster a thriving and sustainable ecosystem.

To empower individuals to take more green actions, Carbon Wallet App visualises users’ carbon reduction achievements and contribution to the environment through daily life illustrations of energy savings, and provides a “Go Green Map” to locate nearby recycling points and green shops.

With its “Green In, Green Out” proposition, Carbon Wallet has become the first point-conversion partner of the Environmental Protection Department’s GREEN$ Electronic Participation Incentive Scheme. Its further integration with Octopus Cards has seamlessly combined daily green consumption with points and rewards as a digital wallet, allowing automatic CW Point earnings when users take MTR or make a purchase at eligible green merchants with their linked Octopus Cards.

Since its inception, the app has witnessed incredible growth and user engagement. As of July 2024, it has over 175, 000 installations and more than 83, 000 registered users. Collectively, these users have reduced carbon emissions by around 2, 350, 000 kilograms, equivalent to the CO2 absorption capacity of more than 102, 200 trees in a year.

In 2023, carbon savings by the users jumped by 276% YoY, and the recorded number of recyclables grew by 227%.

“Carbon Wallet stands apart as a market-first solution in completing the cycle of sustainable consumption, having attracted over 80 environmentally conscious partners so far, helping Hong Kong citizens build better recycling habits and adopt a greener lifestyle, and providing integrated sustainable marketing solutions to brands,” said Chester Cheng, Co-founder of Carbon Wallet.

The HKB Technology Excellence Awards celebrates innovation and excellence in Hong Kong's dynamic tech landscape, highlighting companies that lead the way in technological disruptions within their industries.

The Hong Kong Business Technology Excellence Awards is presented by Hong Kong Business Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2025 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding contributions in pursuit of technological innovation, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez at [email protected].