Category: Uncategorized

Beijing is the capital of China, and the largest city in northern China. In recent decades, Beijing has progressed rapidly in economic development and urbanization. However, municipal solid waste has become one of the significant environmental problems in the city. This article aims to provide an overview on Beijing’s urban solid waste management with regard to its generation, composition and management.

Generation and trend of municipal solid waste

According to the data published by Beijing Statistics Bureau, it is demonstrated that the amount of disposed solid waste in Beijing increased steadily over the past two decades, from 2,800 thousand tonnes in 1995 to 7,903 thousand tonnes in 2015. A multi-regression analysis shows that GDP is identified to be the strongest explanatory factor for the growth of the total solid waste amount in Beijing, indicating that the environment has been paying the price for the economic growth.

Composition of urban solid waste

From table 1, it is shown that solid waste composition has been found to be relatively stable. Food waste always comprises the highest proportion except in 1990, and its representation has an increasing trend. Plastic, paper and ash also occur in relatively high proportions.

Table 1 Composition (%) of urban solid waste from 1990 to 2003 in Beijing

Municipal solid waste management

There were 22 treatment establishments for solid wastes in Beijing in 2004, and the number has increased to 28 in 2016. Sanitary landfill is the main treatment approach of municipal solid waste, while composting and incineration only make up small proportions. Recent research results indicate that the treatment capacity of the treatment plants proves to be insufficient as the capacity can not satisfy the need of treatment. In addition, the traditional landfill practice produces a large amount of greenhouse gases, and some of the pungent gases are poisonous. In order to mitigate the health risk for the population near the landfill, a proper collection and venting system need to be created.

Discussion

The solid waste management in Beijing has been greatly improved during the past decade. However, problems remain in respect of domestic garbage reduction, resource utilization and industrialization. Future challenges for the local government include the implementation of an effective waste minimization program, systematic urban solid waste management;; and improvement in data availability in monitoring the characteristics of municipal solid waste.