Municipal Waste Management Report

A plan being drafted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), called the Technical Guide for Municipal Solid Waste Leachate Treatment, is expected to come out this year, according to XportReporter sources. The draft recently went through a public consultation process and is now awaiting approval by the MEP’s Science and Technology Standard Department. After receiving approval, the plan will undergo a final review by an MEP committee and be published. This news service reported in October 2012 that the MEP was drafting policy on leachate control, with an expected release in early 2013.

Then, in May 2013, an MEP official told XportReporter that the policy had been put on hold due to difficulties arising from the need to coordinate with other government bodies, namely the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD). The Beijing government officially published its city-level groundwater protection plan, Beijing Groundwater Protection and Pollution Control Action Plan, in September 2013, following a broader plan released by the MEP. Beijing’s plan also includes guidance on municipal sewage and leachate treatment. The government stressed the importance of treating leachate generated by urban landfills.

On 12 December 2013, Beijing announced a new regulation that planned to increase non-residential garbage disposal fees as the city grappled with a waste management crisis. The new policy took effect on 1 January 2014, when non-residential buildings, including companies, office buildings, restaurants and schools, will begin to pay USD 16.4 (CNY 100) per ton for disposed kitchen waste and USD 50 (CNY 300) per ton for other kinds of garbage, excluding construction waste. Construction waste will be disposed of at a charge of USD 5 (CNY 30) per ton with an extra transportation fee based on the distance.

On 6 December 2013, Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, announced a plan to conduct a pilot program to encourage people to sort their garbage, paving the way for more efficient garbage disposal. The government will collect waste treatment fees from residents in six pilot communities starting 21 January 2014. All households in the trial communities will be demanded to sort the waste and put them into separate waste containers or bags. The government would then charge certain fees for different kinds of waste. In two pilot communities, residential waste will be charged per barrels. Kitchen waste, which can be recycled as fertilizer, will be collected without any disposal fee.

Other types of waste, however, will be imposed a treatment fee, USD 1 (CNY 6) for every standard barrel (120L). In the other four communities, residents will have to purchase separate waste bags, USD 0.02-0.03 (CNY 0.1-0.2) each for kitchen waste and USD 0.03-0.08 (CNY 0.2-0.5) for other types of waste.