Guiding Rules for Identifying Solid Wastes (for Trial Implementation)

The present Guiding Rules shall be applicable for the identification of the solid wastes and non-solid wastes as defined in the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes, but shall not be applicable for determining their HS codes. For the sake of discriminating solid wastes from non-solid wastes, a judgment shall be made based on the definition in the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes at first; and the scope of solid wastes listed in the present Guiding Rules may be referred to in a second place. In case it is still hard to make a judgment after referring to the foregoing definition and the scope of solid wastes, a judgment may accord Part III of the present Guiding Rules.

In case of any dispute over the identification result on whether a certain substance, article or material belongs to solid wastes or non-solid wastes, the national environmental protection administrative department shall organize and convene an experts conference to identify it and make a judgment jointly with the relevant departments. If, at the import stage, any importer is dissatisfied with the customs' decision on including the imported goods into the management scope of solid wastes, it may apply for administrative reconsideration in accordance with the law or bring an administrative lawsuit to the people's court in accordance with Article 26 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes.

I. Definition of Solid Wastes

The term "solid wastes" shall refer to the articles and substances in solid, semi-solid state or gas in containers that are produced in the production, living and other activities and have lost their original use values or are discarded or abandoned, as well as the articles and substances that are included into the management scope of solid wastes as required by any law or administrative regulation.

II. Scope of Solid Wastes

The substances or articles listed in II (I) but not included in II (II) are solid wastes. Any substance or article included in II (II) is not a solid waste.

(I)Solid wastes shall include (but not be limited to) the following substances, articles or materials:

(1)Garbage gathered from household;

(2)Abandoned substances and discarded products from production;

(3)Abandoned substances from laboratories;

(4)Abandoned substances from office work;

(5)Sludge from urban sewage treatment plants, residues from domestic garbage plants;

(6)Other garbage, residues and sludge from pollution control facilities;

(7)Sludge from dredging of urban riverways;

(8)Products failing to conform to the standards or norms, excluding those used continuously for the original purpose;

(9)Shoddy and inferior products;

(10)Substances or articles declared by the owner or its representative as wastes;

(11)Polluted materials (such as oil polluted by polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs]);

(12)Any material, substance or article prohibited by law from use; and

(13)Substances or articles declared by the environmental protection administrative department of the State Council as solid wastes.

(II)Solid wastes shall not include the following substances or articles:

(1)Radioactive wastes;

(2)Substances or articles directly returning to the original production process or the occurrence process on site without being stored;

(3)Any substance or article used for its original purpose;

(4)Samples for laboratory use; and

(5)Other substances or articles that need not be managed as solid wastes upon approval of the environmental protection administrative department of the State Council.

III. Identification of Solid Wastes and Non-solid Wastes

(I) Judging them according to the working methods and the reasons of the wastes

Judging them according to the working methods listed in Table 1 and the reasons listed in Table 2. If a substance, article or material has to be treated in a working method listed in Table 1, and satisfies one or more reasons listed in Table 2, it may be judged as a solid waste. Table 1 and Table 2 must be used in combination, and neither may be used separately for the identification of solid wastes.

Table 1 Working Methods (Omitted)

Table 2 Reasons why the wastes must be comprehensively utilized or be stored or disposed of / Categories of wastes (omitted)

(II) Judging them according to the features and impacts

To assess whether a substance, article or material (hereinafter referred to as substance) belongs to solid wastes, the following factors shall be took into consideration:

(1)General consideration, which includes: whether the substance is produced intentionally, whether it is manufactured to meet the market demands, whether its economic value is negative, and whether it is a part of the chain of normal commercial circulation or use.

(2)Features, which includes: whether the production of the substance is under quality control, and whether it meets nationally or internationally acknowledged norms/ standards.

(3)Environmental impact, which includes: whether the use of the substance is harmless to the environment when compared with primary products; whether the use of the substance increases risks to human health or the environment in the process of production when compared with corresponding raw materials; whether it causes greater risks to human health or to the environment; whether the substance contains any ingredients harmful to the environment, and such ingredients are not found to be utilizable or re-utilizable in an effective way in the process of re-circulation in the substituted raw materials or products.

(4)Use and destination, which includes: whether the substance needs to be further processed before it is put into use; whether it may be directly applied in production or commerce; whether it may be put into use after a simple repair; whether it is still suitable for its original purpose; whether it may be used as a substitute for other purposes; whether it is actually applied in production; whether it has a fixed use; whether it may be utilized in the existing form or without being treated through any working method listed in Table 1; whether it may not be utilized until treated through a working method listed in Table 1.

To assess whether a substance is a solid waste, all the abovementioned factors shall be comprehensively considered.

The factors to be focused on are also different in light of different objects to be evaluated. The following flow charts may be used as a reference for identifying solid wastes from non-solid wastes, but at the time of specific application, the identification shall be made according to the features and impacts of the substance.

Flow Chart on Discriminating Solid Wastes from Non-solid Wastes (Omitted)