A Sino-US program was launched in Beijing on Monday for enhanced
cooperation on the prevention, management and treatment of
hazardous and solid wastes in China, in a bid to reduce their
impact on human health and ecosystems.
The joint initiative, dubbed the "Strategy for Hazardous and
Solid Waste Cooperation", was adopted during a meeting between Zhou
Shengxian, head of China's State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA), and his US counterpart Stephen Johnson.
Under the strategy, the two countries will intensify transfers
of technical information, temporary personnel exchanges, and joint
projects to demonstrate environmental management approaches and
technologies.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and SEPA would work
together to establish and strengthen environmental regulations for
the management of hazardous and solid wastes in China, including
medical waste, lead-acid batteries, electronic waste, tires, and
sludge generated by industrial and domestic waste water treatment,
the strategy said.
The SEPA and EPA also intend to cooperate on the implementation
of a national polychlorobiphenyl (PCB) treatment plan in two
provinces at 61 identified PCB burial sites by December.
They want to develop regulatory treatment programs and establish
a clean-up fund by 2008, according to the strategy.
Fighting the bird flu outbreak is included in the program, as
both sides are willing to assist each other in preparing responses
to the disease.
They will share strategies and technical information on such
issues as sampling and disposal of contaminated animal carcasses,
the strategy says.
The program is part of the initiative of a Memorandum of
Understanding signed by representatives of environmental
departments of China and the United States in 2004.
(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2006)