Hong Kong has seven ordinances on pollution control. They are the Waste Disposal Ordinance, the Water Pollution Control Ordinance, the Air Pollution Control Ordinance, the Noise Control Ordinance, the Ozone Layer Protection Ordinance, the Dumping at Sea Ordinance and the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance. Most of them have subsidiary regulations and other statutory provisions such as technical memoranda.

The Government follows a set of environmental quality objectives to better protect public health and to preserve a natural ecosystem. The cost of imposing limits on polluting emissions is not higher than is needed to achieve conservation goals. These goals include making maximum use of the environment's natural capacity to absorb and recycle waste.

In 2006, EPD inspectors made nearly 57 050 visits to different places around Hong Kong to enforce controls on air, noise, waste and water pollution and to deal with complaints about pollution. This resulted in 341 prosecutions and nearly $3.3 million in fines.

The EPD also works with the construction industry, the catering industry, the vehicle repair industry, the property management sector and other trades to promote good environmental practices and compliance with pollution control regulations.

The EPD runs a Compliance Assistance Centre (CAC), where different businesses may obtain updated information and advice on environmental compliance, pollution prevention and environmental management.