The Environmental Protection Department today expressed appreciation to the Office of the Ombudsman for its suggestions on further enhancing the effectiveness of combatting the illegal disposal of construction waste.

The department was responding to the Ombudsman's report on its direct investigation into the illegal disposal problem and the “HoHoSkips” recycling service for construction waste.

The department said its efforts in combatting the illegal disposal of construction waste in recent years have shown significant results. The amount of illegally disposed construction waste cleared by the Government has significantly decreased from the peak of around 9,000 tonnes in 2017 to about 1,000 tonnes between 2022 and 2024, representing a reduction of about 89%.

In some previous illegal disposal blackspots, such as the areas around Arran Street in Mong Kok and Wang Wo Tsai Street in Tsuen Wan, the reduction in the amount of illegally disposed construction waste has even exceeded 90%.

The office recognised the department's efforts and effectiveness in combatting the illegal disposal of construction waste, as well as its use of smart technology to assist law enforcement. The report suggested a series of measures to further enhance the effectiveness of combatting the illegal disposal of construction waste and the “HoHoSkips” service.

The department said it will actively follow up in five directions: reviewing ways to strengthen enforcement against illegal disposal of construction waste; strengthening promotional efforts on proper handling of construction waste; reviewing and enhancing the “HoHoSkips” service to increase efficiency, including the expansion of the “Smart HoHoSkips” recycling service; optimising the “HoHoSkips” mobile application and webpage; and collecting feedback from users to improve the “HoHoSkips” service.

The department will continue to regularly review the operational data of the surveillance camera systems and related intelligence, and flexibly adjust the system distribution.

It will also continue to deploy law enforcement actions and carry out promotional activities in areas with frequent small-scale renovation works and building maintenance activities to strengthen deterrence, improve enforcement efficiency and increase prosecution success rates.

Moreover, it has already initiated follow-up action with the respective recycling organisation to implement enhancement measures for the "HoHoSkips" service as soon as possible to improve users' experience.