China bans solid waste imports as of next year
China will impose a complete ban on the impor t of solid waste from next year, as it intensifies ef forts to recycle more domestic waste and promote green development.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment will no longer accept applications for the impor t of an y restricted solid wastes as raw material, according to a guideline released by the ministr y and three central government bodies, including the G eneral Administration of Customs.
T he ministr y said on F riday, import approvals that companies receive this year will be in valid if they fail to import approved material before end of the year.
The ministr y also stressed that any violations of the ban, including dumping, storing and processing of waste coming from overseas, will be seriously punished in accordance with the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste.
Apart from impor ted waste being returned and fines le vied, investigations will be launched for criminal liability if the breach is serious. T he contractor who transpor ts such waste will bear joint liability, said the guideline.
According to the la w, the illegal import of foreign waste is subjec t to fines ranging from 500,000 yuan ($76,000) to 5 million yuan.
The ban is a k ey measure to “promote greenstyle production and life, protect the safe ty of the ecosystem and environment and safeguard people’s health”, the ministry said.
China star ted impor ting solid waste as a source of ra w materials in the 1980s. Despite its inadequate capacity for waste treatment and growing domestic waste, China has been the world's largest importer of solid waste for years.
The rising public a wareness of environmental protec tion and reducing pollution led to a governmentbacked action plan in 2017 to phase out waste imports.
Meanwhile, enterprises and governments at all le vels are being encouraged to mak e concer ted efforts to beef up domestic waste recycling.
Waste classification in urban communities as well as an e xtended producer responsibilit y system are t wo e xamples of man y recent initiatives, with the latter making it compulsory for producers to shoulder more responsibility in the recycling of their own products.
The system was first piloted in the household appliance industr y in 2011, and authorities are extending it to other sectors such as automobiles and leadacid batteries.
Mao Da, a polic y consultant at the C hina Z ero Waste Alliance, an environmental NGO, called on the government to accelerate efforts to extend the mechanism to other sectors.
“The system can address the financing gap for the building of a complete national rec ycling mechanism,” he said. “It also provides a motive for companies to improve product design to minimize waste,” he said.
The comple te ban was announced as the countr y mulls over wideranging green transformation in the coming 1 4 th FiveYear Plan (2021 25) period and beyond.
China will endeavor to make production and lifest yles green to achieve a fundamental improvement in en vironmental qualit y by 2035, according to a proposal unveiled earlier this month. The country will take actions to achie ve mark ed progress in the transformation in the coming five years, said the proposal.