Essential to improve waste sorting to build ecological civilization

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recently announced that it will strive to achieve a waste classification coverage of more than 90 percent in cities at the prefecture level or above by the end of this year, and total coverage by the end of 2025.

Waste classification and disposal have, in recent times, become important issues in urban development, especially in densely populated cities where waste management faces greater challenges. Implementing waste classification regulations will not only help reduce waste generation at source, but also ease the burden on the waste disposal system, yielding significant environmental and social benefits.

In fact, after the implementation of the waste classification system, the growth rate of waste generation in China has significantly declined. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, from 2015 to 2019, the average annual increase in domestic waste in China was 6 percent. But after the implementation of waste classification system in 2021, the amount of domestic waste collected in urban areas was 248 million tons, up just 2.7 percent compared with 2019, showing a clear slowdown in the growth rate.

Waste classification also contributes to the construction of ecological civilization and reflects the level of social civilization. And according to the central leadership, the implementation of the waste classification system will help improve the living environment of people and conserve resources.

The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China included, for the first time, the construction of ecological civilization in the overall goal of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. And by highlighting that blue waters and green mountains are invaluable assets of the country, the 19th CPC National Congress report raised the importance of ecological civilization to an unprecedented strategic level.

In this context, encouraging the public to separate waste at source and address the environmental issues in their neighborhood contributes to the construction of an urban ecological civilization and helps people to fulfill their individual responsibilities for protecting the environment and building a beautiful China.

It was way back in 2000 that the then Ministry of Construction announced the first batch of eight pilot cities where household waste classification would be promoted. In June 2019, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued a notice on the comprehensive implementation of waste classification in cities at the prefecture level or above. And by the end of 2020, 46 key cities had issued relevant policies, with 23 enacting waste classification management regulations.

This shows waste classification policies have transitioned from pilot projects to comprehensive implementation. By the end of last year, the average waste classification rate in residential areas of cities at the prefecture level or above reached 82.5 percent. The figure is expected to exceed 90 percent by the end of this year and 100 percent by the end of 2025.

However, there are still challenges on the way to achieving full waste classification coverage by 2025. While governance is weak and public awareness still insufficient in some communities, waste classification is still not mandatory, and the reward and punishment system not yet perfect. Also, some people still do not realize the importance of waste classification and refuse to sort waste at source.

Besides, some local governments overemphasize the waste classification rate and continue to build waste disposal facilities but neglect the original intention of waste classification, that is, reduction of waste generation at source. And some places put excessive emphasis on separating low-value recyclable waste, but lack the facilities for recycling them, and there is a dearth of viable resource utilization technologies to dispose of the substantial amount of kitchen waste.

To achieve full waste classification coverage, it is necessary to improve the laws, regulations and standards, and provide long-term guidance for waste classification at the macro-policy level. For recyclable waste, it is not the government but the market that should play a leading role, with the government enacting supportive policies and supporting recycling enterprises.

As for the people, who play the most crucial role in waste classification, efforts should be made to cultivate environmental awareness among them and make them more aware of the importance of protecting the environment. There is also a need to establish a scientific reward-and-penalty system.

Furthermore, the government should encourage research institutions and companies to conduct research on how to improve waste classification, and dispose of or recycle waste in a more effective and eco-friendly way. And efficient resource utilization and treatment technologies should be developed based on the characteristics of different types of waste, which will help clear the bottleneck created by the lack of advanced technology and facilities for the eco-friendly disposal and recycling of waste.

The author is a professor at the School of Environment, Tsinghua University.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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