By the end of the last century, domestic garbage from China's
cities went largely unprocessed to landfill sites. The first years
of the 21st century saw the introduction of new garbage disposal
methods, which are commonplace in developed countries. First came
sorting to facilitate recycling in 2000 then a collection charge in
2002. However all is not well.
People are not yet sorting their trash with any degree of
commitment and most garbage still finds its way to the landfill
sites. The disposal charge hasn't had a smooth introduction either.
In some places the fee charged for collection has been reduced
several times.
There is a still long way to go to realize the goals of reducing
the total volume of garbage for disposal, transforming old rubbish
into useable resources and disposing of domestic trash without
creating secondary pollution.
Hundreds of thousands of tons of garbage still cast a long shadow
over some 600 Chinese cities.
Sorting Still Ineffective
In
Liuheyuan Residential Community, located in the Shijingshan
District of Beijing, the bins are clearly labeled kitchen
waste, recyclable or other. Beside them piles of
garbage lie unsorted, tied up in plastic bags.
"Is this the so-called garbage sorting? This is not the way to do
it. By the way, why don't the dustbins have a food-switch
installed?" said local resident He Yanping.
Sorting garbage before collection is believed to be an effective
method to decrease the volume of garbage that needs to be dumped.
There were pilot studies in eight cities including Beijing,
Shanghai and Hangzhou in 2000. However, right from the start the
new method has operated in name only.
In
Beijing, by the end of 2002 sorting had been introduced to 277
residential quarters, office buildings and industrial districts.
200,000 households and 1 million people were covered. However only
about 10 percent of the garbage in those areas is actually being
sorted.
In
east China's Shandong Province, the cities of Jinan, Qingdao, Zibo
and Yantai were chosen for sorting trials there, but it was the
same story with sorting accounting for only some 10 percent.
In
these and other cities all over China it's still the norm to find
mixed garbage being put out for collection in bags. What's more
even if the garbage is sorted prior to collection it doesn't stay
sorted. "It will become mixed up later in the processing cycle,"
revealed Feng Luning, deputy-director of the Municipal Parks and
Public Sanitation Bureau of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi
Province.
And so the aims of reducing volume, tackling pollution and
recycling valuable resources have largely been compromised.
Why hasn't garbage sorting been well received in China? Feng thinks
the problem may be related to conditions in China. "How many
families in China have enough space to have several garbage cans
side by side?" he said.
"People don't really appreciate the value of sorting," said Dong
Lei, general manager of the Qingdao Solid Waste Disposal Co. Ltd,
"so a lack of awareness among our residents has led to problems in
encouraging sorting into the discard or recycle categories we're
trying to implement here."
Backward garbage disposal facilities also present an obstacle to
the processing of sorted trash. In the Majialou Garbage Transit
Station where all the domestic garbage from the Xuanwu District of
Beijing passes through, sorting is rudimentary. A small proportion
is diverted to be broken down as compost and put back into the
soil, but most just goes to the landfill sites and this includes
plastics and glass bottles that could have been recycled. The
reality still falls far short of a proper system of sorting.
Charges Going Uncollected
The Yangguangcheng residential quarter has been recognized as a
Beijing Residential Quarter with Excellent Property
Management. Garbage sorting might well be considered exemplary
here but inquiries have revealed that the property management staff
didn't actually know what the garbage collection charges are.
Staff from the Urban Construction Administrative Committee for the
Chaoyang District of Beijing sought to excuse the omission by
pointing out that there are few residents in Yangguangcheng and no
one has been put in charge of collecting the charges.
But, what is most puzzling is that the property management here is
actually of a very high standard as is sorting for collection.
Property prices in Yangguangcheng are high at over US$2,000 per
square meter. Property management fees are running at six yuan
(US$0.72) per square meter per month. So why should there be any
difficulty in collecting a garbage charge of just three yuan
(US$0.36) a month?
The charges were introduced to China's cities in June 2002 to fund
the modernization of garbage disposal. So far the fee is being
collected in just 123 cities, or about 19 percent of the total.
According to Lu Yingfang, an official from the Urban Construction
Department at the Ministry of Construction, garbage charges have
been slow to make an impact in China. So far only two provincial
administrations, Guangdong and Shanxi have brought in legislation
on the introduction of the charges. Many cities don't yet have a
policy on the issue and where charges are levied they tend to be
rather on the low side.
Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, started on the road to
garbage collection charges in 2001. There was a public hearing to
consider the matter of the rate to be levied and this concluded
with approval being gained. But up till now, the new measures
haven't been put into practice due to the unresolved problem of how
to collect the monies due.
Beijing has actually seen a sharp drop in the revenues collected.
The figures for last year showed some 4 million yuan (about
US$480,000) collected compared with 7 million yuan (about
US$845,000) for the year before.
Who generates garbage and who pays for its disposal? It should be a
straightforward matter. Referring to the difficulties of collecting
the charges in Beijing, Liang Guangsheng, deputy director of the
Beijing Municipal Administrative Committee for Urban Construction
said, "the main obstacle to collecting the charges resides in the
collection mechanism rather than in the scale of charges. In a
survey 98 percent of respondents indicated their willingness to
pay. The problem lies in how to collect the monies due."
Collection is multi-layered and administratively complex with
residential community, district and municipal levels all involved.
The costs of collecting the charges are significant and there
should be consultation to explore the feasibility of working
alongside some existing revenue collection mechanism," said
Liang.
An
official from the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau said that
more publicity should be given to the issues to increase public
awareness. If people could be better informed as to the benefits
they would be more likely to participate wholeheartedly.
Garbage Keeps on Growing
"If the garbage generated by Beijingers in one year was piled up in
one place, it could raise a great mound 40 meters high over an area
of 500 mu (33.5 hectares)." This vivid imagery came from Xu
Bo, director of the Installations Division of the Beijing Municipal
Administrative Committee of Urban Construction.
As
an unwelcome spin-off from economic development, Beijingers
generated 3.21 million tons of domestic garbage in 2002 compared
with 2.05 million tons in 1978. Every day the average Beijinger
produces nearly 1 kg of garbage.
Growth in the amount of garbage generated outstrips even growth in
GDP. Almost all landfill sites reach capacity and are taken out of
service ahead of schedule. By Beijing's Olympic year 2008, the
projections are for 12,000 tons of domestic garbage a day. With
garbage disposal capacity currently running at just 8,800 tons per
day, this is becoming a matter of concern.
Beijing is just one of many places around the country which has
seen its garbage grow and grow. Each year now some 56 million tons
of domestic garbage from the cities goes to dumps demanding
increasingly more space.
Garbage disposal doesn't come cheap. Collection, transportation and
disposal of 1 ton of garbage costs 150 to 170 yuan (US$18-20) in
Beijing. Nationwide 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) was invested
in processing domestic garbage during the currency of the 9th Five-Year
Plan (1996-2000).
Deputy director of the Research Office of the Environment and
Resources Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC),
He Jingping, said that only a small proportion of the garbage is
currently composted down and returned to the land or incinerated
for power generation. Most is buried rather than recycled as a
useful resource.
The unsophisticated methods used in processing the garbage provide
little opportunity to make any noticeable volume reduction.
Incineration would be an obvious means of doing this but at present
there is no incineration plant in the capital city of Beijing.
A
responsible official from the Ministry of Construction reported
that the national garbage disposal rate has reached 58.2 percent.
Ye Rutang, deputy director of the Environment and Resources
Commission and also former Vice Minister of Construction responded,
"I just can't accept this figure as it overstates what is being
achieved," and he pointed out, "existing measures for maintaining
environmental sanitation involve relocating the garbage from urban
to rural areas. The cities may be well groomed, but who is looking
after the natural beauty of the countryside?"
Those concerned suggested not expecting too much too quickly as
garbage sorting and charges had only recently been introduced to
the Chinese people. However changing the production and consumption
habits of a "throw-away society" should begin without delay and
everyone should play their part.
Citing the example of the over-packaging of moon cakes getting
worse every year, Ye Rutang said, "in line with international
conventions, we should bring in legislation to control the
situation by reducing the amount of garbage at source. In developed
countries, enterprises that over-package their goods incur
financial penalties. For instance this has led to the use of
simpler packaging in Germany."
"In the past, families saved metal toothpaste tubes for recycling,"
said Wang Shi, a resident of the Dongcheng District of Beijing. He
suggested that a garbage recycling station be set up in every
residential quarter. Each household should have an account for the
value of recyclable garbage handed in with the money being paid to
them every month. "This approach would not only reduce the amount
of garbage for dumping, but would also provide employment
opportunities. Why not go ahead with it?"
(China.org.cn translated by Zhang Tingting, July 12, 2003)