The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) announced that the "HoHoSkips" booking service for construction waste collection has been extended to Yuen Long, Sha Tin and Tai Po districts from today (July 15). Members of the public and the renovation trade can book, through the mobile application "HoHoSkips", the service for collecting small quantities of construction waste generated from renovation works in these districts for recycling and disposal.
 
     A spokesman for the EPD said that the department launched the trade-led pilot scheme on collection and recycling of construction waste at the district level early this year, and the first project was rolled out in Sham Shui Po District. Through the setting up of convenient collection points for construction waste and the use of smart skips, as well as the "HoHoSkips" app to collect construction waste generated from small-scale renovation works, the renovation trade is provided with a convenient, time-saving and efficient construction waste collection service with a view to reducing illegal dumping of construction waste at source.
 
     The EPD extended the scheme to Yuen Long, Sha Tin and Tai Po districts today, so that small-scale renovation practitioners and members of the public can also book the service via the "HoHoSkips" app to arrange the collection of construction waste in these districts. It will also help encourage more practitioners in the trade to use the service and further boost the total quantity of construction waste collected under the pilot scheme. With the funding support of the Recycling Fund and the reduction of transportation and disposal costs by consolidating delivery and waste recovery separation, the service providers will only charge $71 per tonne inert construction waste and $200 per tonne of non-inert construction waste.
 
     In addition to enhancing the Sham Shui Po trial project by strengthening publicity and education, engaging the community and progressively increasing collection points in the district, the EPD will step up enforcement actions while implementing the pilot scheme in the aforementioned districts. It will do this by flexibly deploying surveillance camera systems and strengthening manpower for blitz operations against the illegal disposal of construction waste. This aims to promote a wider use of the collection service in the trade, thus increasing the construction waste collection rate.
 
     The "HoHoSkips" app can be downloaded for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Members of the public and the renovation trade are welcome to install and use.

     For more information about the "HoHoSkips" scheme, please visit the dedicated website hohoskips.hk.

Ends/Thursday, July 15, 2021
Issued at HKT 14:38

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