Throwing money down the drain?

Low treatment levels

The low level of treatment is the result of many factors, including a shortage of funds, lax management by the authorities, poor awareness of the pollution threat, and a lack of treatment standards. Added to that, the market to support the utilization of sludge is immature, according to local governments and research groups.

At a summit in July, Chen Cheng, a researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission's environment bureau, introduced an interim report on investment in sludge-processing systems.

He noted that the country planned to invest 34.7 billion yuan ($5.4 billion) between 2010 and the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan. However, by 2013, only 8 billion yuan had been invested in the construction of sludge-treatment facilities, accounting for less than 25 percent of the planned investment, far too little to finance any positive development.

Poor returns

"Sludge-treatment fees are included in the sewage charges paid by residents and companies," said Ren Yong, deputy head of the housing and urban-rural development bureau in Shaanxi province.

Although it costs 1 yuan to process every ton of sewage, only 0.2 yuan, or 20 percent, of that is spent on the treatment of sewage sludge, which is not enough to support the processing plants. That lays the financial burden of operating sewage-processing plants at the doors of cash-strapped local governments, who may be reluctant to foot the bill.

In addition, although the investment targets for sewage-processing facilities have been met, investment in sewage-sludge treatment lags far behind, indicating the governments' lack of awareness of sludge management, Cao said.

Many governments fail to understand the importance of the correct treatment of sludge because they are unaware of the potential environmental threat, she said, adding that the market is too immature to facilitate the use of sludge in environmentally beneficial ways.