According to a news.gov.hk report dated 21 October 2026, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is advancing three artificial intelligence projects to help handle illegal dumping hotspot enforcement, cross-department water seepage complaints, and food business and other licence applications — using technology to cut repetitive administrative work, raise efficiency and improve public service.
Faster illegal dumping hotspot enforcement: pre-processing from about five days to about one working day
FEHD receives about 50,000 complaints a year about illegal dumping of refuse, through channels including 1823 and email. The department has launched the "Faster Illegal Dumping Hotspot Enforcement" project, using AI to analyse complaint text, images and video and to identify duplicate or related cases. The system works with network cameras at more than 1,600 locations to support inspections, clearance and enforcement.
Deputy Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene (Environmental Hygiene) Ms Yeung Lai-shan said AI can help analyse the text of complaints, organise the locations, times and refuse conditions involved, extract useful information from photos and videos, and suggest action priorities and deployment by hotspot risk. She said pre-processing each complaint — from organising and analysing material to putting forward recommendations — currently takes about five days. The project is expected to launch formally around the middle of next year, when pre-processing time can be shortened to one working day. For complete and relatively simple cases, follow-up time will fall from about one month to about one week.
Faster water seepage complaint handling: about ten working days saved overall
The Joint Office for the Investigation of Water Seepage Complaints receives about 50,000 seepage reports a year. FEHD's "Faster Water Seepage Complaint Handling" project uses AI to sort and classify reports and to support case filing, assignment and referral. The overall process is expected to save about ten working days, shortening from about 90 days to about 80 days. Phase one is expected to start in the first quarter of next year.
Figure: An indoor joint-office scene — left to right, digitising paper licence forms, triaging seepage complaints, and cross-department referral as three service lanes (editorial illustration — no text or logos; not an actual system screen).
Easier food business licence applications: in-principle approval from about 30 to about 20 working days
FEHD handles about 7,000 food business and other licence applications a year, of which about two-thirds are on paper. The "Easier Food Business Licence Applications" project will use AI to digitise paper materials, check whether application details and attachments are complete, and support case assignment and cross-department referral. FEHD expects the time for applicants to obtain in-principle approval for a food business licence to fall from about 30 working days to about 20 working days. Phase one is expected to launch in December this year (2026).
Timeline at a glance
| Project | Main benefit (per government information) | Expected stage | |—|—|—| | Faster illegal dumping hotspot enforcement | Complaint pre-processing about 5 days → about 1 working day; follow-up for complete/simple cases about 1 month → about 1 week | Formal launch around mid-next year | | Faster water seepage complaint handling | Overall process saves about 10 working days (about 90 → about 80 days) | Phase 1 in Q1 next year | | Easier food business licence applications | In-principle approval about 30 → about 20 working days; about two-thirds of applications on paper can be digitised and checked | Phase 1 in December this year |
The three projects align with the Government's drive for departments to use AI to cut repetitive administration and speed up public services. On 17 August 2026 the Government announced that the AI Efficiency Enhancement Group had facilitated and implemented a first batch of 30 efficiency enhancement projects across departments, covering everyday scenarios such as audits, enquiries and monitoring. FEHD's projects likewise focus on high-volume complaint handling and licensing, with AI assisting organisation, classification, filing and referral so staff can focus sooner on inspections, investigations and approvals.
Primary sources:
- news.gov.hk, 「推人工智能項目 食環署提速提效」 (Chinese-language report), 2026-10-21, https://www.news.gov.hk/chi/2026/10/20261020/20261020_153325_909.html
- Government press release, "AI Efficiency Enhancement Group announces implementation of 30 efficiency enhancement projects" (2026-08-17), https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202608/17/P2026081700318.htm
