SOE 2003 - Solid Wastes

General Situation:

In 2003, China generated 1 billion tons of industrial solid wastes, which was 6.3% more than the previous year. The amount of industrial solid wastes discharged was 19.41 million tons, which was 26.3% less than the previous year. The amount of industrial solid waste used comprehensively was 560 million tons. The comprehensive utilization rate was 55.8%, which was 3.8 percentage points higher than the previous year. The amount of hazardous waste generated was 11.71 million tons, which was 17.1% higher than the previous year.

In 2003, the cleared and transported household wastes were 148.57 million tons, which was 8.8% more than the previous year. The amount of household wastes that were treated innocuously was 75.5 million tons, which was 2% more than the previous year. The rate of treatment for household waste was 50.8%.

The Generation and Disposal of Industrial Solid Wastes in China (in 10,000 tons)

Year	Amount Generated		Amount Discharged		Amount Used Comprehensively		Amount Stored		Amount Disposed
Year	Total	Hazardous Wastes	Total	Hazardous Wastes	Total	Hazardous Wastes	Total	Hazardous Wastes	Total	Hazardous Wastes
1999	78442	1015	3880	36.0	35756	465	26295	397	10764	132
2000	81608	830	3186	2.6	34751	408	28921	276	9152	179
2001	88746	952	2894	2.1	47290	442	30183	307	14491	229
2002	94509	1000	2635	1.7	50061	392	30040	383	16618	242
2003	100428	1171	1941	0.3	56040	425	27667	423	17751	375
Annual Change (%)	6.3	17.1	-26.3	-82.4	11.9	8.4	-7.9	10.4	6.8	55.0

Note: The "amount used comprehensively" and the "amount disposed" includes some amount left over from the previous year.

The Comprehensive Utilization of Crop Stalks: In 2003, the Ministry of Agriculture regarded "returning crop stalks to farmland through mechanization means in key regions" as one of the 11 practical tasks that they had planned to do for farmers. 50 zones for "returning crop stalks to farmland through mechanization means "were built in the suburbs of 10 big cities (i.e. Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Zhenzhou, Xi'an, Jinan, Chengdu, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Chongqing), in the neighboring areas of 5 big airports (i.e. Capital Airport of Beijing, Tianjin Airport, Xianyan Airport of Xi'an, Shuangliu Airport of Chengdu, and Lukou Airport of Nanjing), and along 5 highways (i.e. Beijing-Zhengzhou section of Jing-Zhu Highway, Hu-Ning Highway, Ji-Qing Highway, Xi-Bao Highway, and Cheng-Yu Highway). The Ministry of Ministry also promoted the popularization of the practice of "returning crops stalks to farmland through mechanization means" in 667,000 hectares.

In 2003, "returning crop stalks to farmland through mechanization means" was implemented in 14.59 million hectares, which was 179,000 hectares more than the previous year. 140 million tons of green crop stalks and 56.5 million tons of ammoniated crop stalks were stored, and 488 centralized gas generation facilities using crop stalks were constructed. In the 10 key provinces or municipalities, "returning crop stalks to farmland through mechanization means "was implemented in 9.3 million hectares, which was 31% of all farmland area of these 10 provinces or municipalities, and was 3.24 million hectares more than the previous year. The total area covered by the comprehensive use of crop stalks was 14.5 million tons, which was 48% of all farmland area of the 10 provinces or municipalities.

Countermeasures and Actions:

The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Solid Wastes: In 2003, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress conducted inspections on the enforcement of The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Solid Waste, and started to revise the Law.

The Regulations on the Management of Medical Wastes: On June 16, 2003, the State Council promulgated The Regulations on the Management of Medical Waste. In order to promote its implementation, the SEPA and the Ministry of Health jointly promulgated Inventory of Medical Waste Classifications. SEPA formulated and promulgated Technical Rules on the Centralized Disposal of Medical Waste; Rules on the Specialized Packaging, Containers, and Warnings for Medical Waste; Technical Requirements for the Transportation of Medical Waste; and Technical Requirements for the Incineration of Medical Waste.

National Planning on the Construction of Disposal Facilities for Hazardous Waste and Medical Waste: In 2003, the State Development and Reform Commission and SEPA formulated National Plan on the Construction of Disposal Facilities for Hazardous Waste and Medical Waste, which had been approved by the State Council for implementation. This plan requires the establishment of 31 centralized facilities for the comprehensive disposal of hazardous wastes and 300 centralized facilities for the disposal of medical wastes within 3 years. If this plan is implemented successfully, China could achieve safe disposal of almost all the hazardous wastes, medical wastes, and radioactive wastes. The planned investment is RMB 15 billion.

The Circular on Implementing the Fee System for and Promoting the Industrialization of Hazardous Waste Disposal: As approved by the State Council, the State Development and Reform Commission, SEPA, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Construction jointly promulgated The Circular on Implementing the Fee System for and Promoting the Industrialization of Hazardous Waste Disposal.

The Collecting and Disposal of "Dushuqiang" (a rat-killing poison): In order to implement the Circular by the General Office of the State Council on the Disposal of Dushuqiang, SEPA formulated special plans for the collecting and disposal of Dushuqiang, promulgated technical guidance and requirements for the disposal of Dushuqiang, and directed the provincial Environmental Protection Bureaus to certify 42 designated organizations for the safe disposal of Dushuqiang. A national safety inspection was conducted for the disposal of Dushuqiang, and over 85% of all hypertoxic poisons appropriated or collected had been destroyed in centralized facilities.

Dredging of the Three Gorges Reservoir: Before the Three Gorges Reservoir started to conserve water in 2003, SEPA, jointly with other relevant agencies, conducted supervision and inspection on the dredging of the bottom of the reservoir.

Environmental Management of Imported Wastes: In 2003, SEPA, the State Customs Administration, the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Agency, and the Hong Kong Customs jointly conducted a campaign to crack down on the smuggling of used electronic equipment, and discovered 8 cases of smuggling of used electronic equipment. 1,256 items of used electronic equipment were appropriated, and over 30 tons of used nonferrous-metal equipment that didn't meet environmental standard was appropriated.

Environmental Management on the Import and Export of Chemicals: In 2003, 98 environmental management registration licenses were approved and issued for the import and export of hazardous chemicals. 4,922 "approval notices for the environmental management of the importation of hazardous chemicals"and 1,200 "approval notices for the exportation of hazardous chemicals" were approved and issued. The registered imported hazardous wastes was 500,000 tons, and the registered exported hazardous wastes was 51,000 tons. SEPA and the State Customs Administration jointly promulgated the "Notice of Adding HgS to the List of Hazardous Chemicals Banned or Strictly Prohibited in China."

Cleanup and Sanitation Work in Cities: By the end of 2003, the total road area in cities covered by cleanup was 2.4788 billion m2, among which 402.23 million m2 (which was 16.2% of the total cleaned area, and was 0.1% more than the previous year) was cleaned by mechanization means. During the year, 183.32 million tons of household waste and excrement were transported or cleaned. Garbage and excrement in cities were able to be cleaned or transported on the same day they were generated.