A green group on Thursday called on people who have a surplus of mooncakes to donate them before Mid-Autumn Festival arrives so that they can be handed out to the underprivileged.

Food Grace said the move isn’t only beneficial to the grassroots community, but can also help cut down on food wastage.

The group said it believes up to 3.2 million mooncakes were disposed of in Hong Kong last year, after interviewing around 350 families in July and August.

Its senior project officer, William Wong, said he expects the wastage problem to exacerbate this year, as some mooncake companies may overestimate demand for their products after the pandemic.

His group found that on average, each household only plans to buy 1.8 boxes of mooncakes this year – down from 2.6 boxes a year ago.

"This year is the first year Covid-19 is so-called 'finished'. Most of us may think the market would resume [normal], but actually we found out this is not the case," he said.

"Before deciding to give mooncakes to friends or parents, we suggest [people] to ask their opinion: whether they would like to receive mooncakes this year or what is their preference for the type of mooncakes. This is a good way to reduce food waste."