SHANGHAI: China will target a “dynamic balance” between industrial solid waste output and processing capacity in key sectors, as it steps up source reduction and comprehensive utilisation to tackle massive historical stockpiles and rapidly accumulating new waste, according to a national action plan on solid waste governance.
Unveiled early this year by the State Council, the country’s Cabinet, the plan prioritises the treatment of solid waste that has a direct impact on public health and workplace safety.
It calls for the expedited establishment of a comprehensive, long-term governance framework, alongside resolute measures to curb solid waste growth, with the industrial sector as a key focus of these efforts.
By 2030, the annual utilisation of bulk solid waste should reach about 4.5 billion tonnes, and the annual volume of recycled major renewable resources should be 510 million tonnes, per the plan.
Li Gao, Vice-Minister of Ecology and Environment, said more than 11 billion tonnes of solid waste, spanning industrial, construction, household, agricultural and hazardous categories, is generated in China each year.
In particular, he highlighted the remarkable challenges China faces in managing its growing industrial solid waste.
China’s industrial sectors, such as mining, smelting and power generation, continue to generate vast quantities of solid waste, compounding the challenge of a massive historical stockpile, he said.
In recent years, he said, traditional utilisation channels such as infrastructure construction have contracted, increasing the difficulty of reuse, which in turn has driven a further rise in new accumulations.
“As a result, effective governance must tackle both the legacy of historical stockpiles and the mounting pressure of new waste,” he noted.
A preliminary survey by the ministry showed that the cumulative stockpiled industrial solid waste across the country amounts to about 33 billion tonnes, occupying an area of about 3,500 sq km, Li said.
According to the ministry’s Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Centre, China’s comprehensive utilisation of non-hazardous industrial solid waste totalled 2.65 billion tonnes in 2024, representing an increase of 740 million tonnes from 2012.
“However, compared with the vast and growing generation of non-hazardous industrial solid waste, the amount recovered and productively utilised remains quite limited,” the centre said in a statement following publication of the plan.
Each year, nearly two billion tonnes of new bulk industrial solid waste are stockpiled, causing ecological damage and occupying large areas of natural resources, including farmland, forests, and grasslands, it added.
The vice-minister pledged to actively explore new channels for the large scale disposal and utilisation of industrial solid waste while advancing the remediation of historically stockpiled sites. — China Daily/ANN
