{"id":109400,"date":"2023-09-04T14:00:42","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T14:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadialogue.net\/?p=109400"},"modified":"2023-09-11T09:06:07","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T09:06:07","slug":"four-years-of-waste-sorting-leaves-chinas-incinerators-short-of-fuel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/four-years-of-waste-sorting-leaves-chinas-incinerators-short-of-fuel\/","title":{"rendered":"Four years of waste sorting leaves China\u2019s incinerators short of fuel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Four years ago, Shanghai introduced mandatory waste sorting. The regulation changed residents\u2019 behaviour<\/a> and, as we will see, had unforeseen consequences for the waste-processing sector. Today, waste sorting is mandatory in most of China\u2019s big cities. Meanwhile, both the number and capacity of waste-to-power incinerators have doubled<\/a>. But with waste sorting reducing the amount of material being sent to incineration, some facilities are struggling to find anything to burn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May, Wuhu Ecology Center, for which I am a researcher, commissioned EP Map<\/a>, an environmental data organisation, to compile operational data from waste-to-power plants<\/a>. Monitoring information is automatically gathered from these plants and published on a public platform managed by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, which has been updated daily since January 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data shows there were 8,499 \u201cplanned stoppages\u201d during May, meaning at least one incinerator at a plant was not operating. In some cases, incinerators were idle for more than half the month. While other factors contribute to stoppages, such as aging incinerators kept as backup but left idle in favour of newer ones, these high numbers mean some are simply not being used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making use of the surplus capacity would mean burning more waste, but that would run counter to the purpose of sorting it in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind this situation lie contradictory government policies. Better policy coordination across ministries and regions is needed to promote waste-sorting policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sorting cuts incineration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Only Shanghai publishes data on the quantity of waste that is recycled. The data shows that, since sorting became mandatory in the city, recovery of recyclables and wet (food and other organic) waste has increased, leading to a reduction in incineration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shanghai\u2019s mandatory waste-sorting policy<\/a> came into effect in July 2019 and caused quantities of waste sent to incineration or landfill to fall. In 2021, for example, the city diverted 6.46 million tonnes<\/a> of recyclable and wet waste \u2013 54%<\/a> of the total. In 2018, only 21%<\/a> of the total was diverted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n