Progress in Solid Waste Disposal

China has made solid progress in the prevention and control of solid waste pollution, said a report by a law enforcement inspection team to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

Household waste is sorted in all Chinese cities at the prefecture level and above. In 2020, the waste recycle rate in the 46 pilot cities reached an average of 36.2 percent, and 99.7 percent of urban household waste nationwide was disposed of safely. As for the countryside, household waste is collected and properly treated in more than 90 percent of administrative villages.

By the end of 2020, China’s capacity for collection and disposal of hazardous waste had exceeded 140 million tons per year. The comprehensive utilization rates for urban building waste, domestic animal manure, crop straw, and agricultural films stood at more than 50 percent, 76 percent, 87.6 percent, and 80 percent respectively.