A Gap Analysis in Selected Asian Countries, 3R Knowledge Hub ...

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3R Gap Analysis and Findings
Urban Municipal Solid Waste Generation
Year
2003 1997
GNP per capita
(US$)
Urban population
(% of total)
Urban MSW generation
(kg/capita/day)
1000
MSW Composition from population using coal
Source: www.3rkh.net
Of the total solid waste, nearly 60% is generated
from 52 cities having a population of over 0.5
million. China had recently surpassed the US as
the world’s largest municipal solid waste
generator, nevertheless with little demonstrated
and concrete waste reduction efforts. With
respect to the amount of MSW generation and its
composition, the waste treatment and disposal
methods are weak. For instance, most of the
generated waste (above 70%) are landfilled
(most of it is simple dumpsite) and 20% has been
composted in the past decades.
Informal recycling activities take place at every
stage and remarkably influence the waste
stream. Much more waste is generated than
which actually arrives at the disposal site. This
informal recycling takes place at different stages
from the household, where the waste is
generated till reaching the dumpsites. The share
of recyclable waste exiting the waste stream can
be as high as 60%.
35
1.15
620
30.3
0.79
MSW Composition from population using gas
Source: www.3rkh.net
Findings
China’s recycling rates are lower than most other
countries and likely to be much lower than
intuitively believed. The secondary materials
market in China is affected by several factors
including: value to the recycler, avoided disposal
costs and price paid in the exporting country,
avoided disposal costs and price paid to domestic
producers, cost of domestic and international
transportation and cost of enacting environmental
safeguards associated with recycling the material.
Much of the Chinese recycling systems are being
adversely affected by the import of low-cost
secondary materials from high-income countries
that are exporting these materials to avoid using
their limited landfill capacity and paying their
higher costs of disposal largely due to more
stringent environmental regulatory requirements.
In 2002, the US exported an estimated USD 1.2
billion in scrap and secondary materials to China
– up from USD 194 million five years earlier
(World Bank, 2005).
Even though, there is no technological standard
for the recycling of plastic wastes in China, the
law and regulation for recycling plastic waste has
been enacted and an efficient collecting system
has been formed with the economic development
of China. The recycling of plastic wastes is
becoming a new attractive field in that it can save
resources and protect the environment. From the
view of environmental protection as well as the
economics, a novel and reasonable technology is
needed. This is the responsibility of the governments
and the producers. The reuse of waste plastics,as one
of the avenues to tackle the resource shortness, is
expected to play a vital role in the near future. Since
China produces 29% of the world’s MSW every