CRI听力:China release solid waste reform plan, says no to "foreign garbage"

China started to import solid waste as raw materials to make up for the domestic shortage of resources in the 1980s, but some companies have illegally smuggled "foreign garbage" into the country for profit, posing a risk to the environment and public health.

The newly released reform plan stipulates that by the end of 2017, the country will forbid imports of solid waste that cause great environmental damage and raise strong public concerns.

By the end of 2019, the country will phase out imports of solid waste that can be replaced by domestic resources.

Guo Jing, director of the International Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Environmental Protection says China will gradually reduce the categories and amount of solid waste imports, and raise the import threshold.

"We will firstly ban imports of solid waste that poses a high risk of polluting the environment and giving rise to strong opposition in people's daily lives. A total of 24 types of solid waste initially banned from being imported includes: waste plastics, unsorted scrap paper, discarded textiles, and vanadium slag. We have reported the progress in compliance with the transparency rules of the World Trade Organization," Guo said.

Statistics shows that China has imported over 500 million tons of solid waste over the past ten years, meaning that every year a total of 50 million tons of foreign rubbish has been flown into China.

The reform plan notes that border controls on "foreign garbage" will be intensified, and severe punishments will be imposed on the reselling and illegal processing of imported waste.

Meanwhile a long-term mechanism will be established to keep "foreign garbage" out, and international cooperation will be enhanced.

Speaking of the transition from the previous import to a ban on solid waste, Professor Li Jinhui of the Environment School at Tsinghua University says international cooperation is crucial.

"For example we need to collaborate with the UN Environment Program and World Customs Organization to keep away foreign garbage. If the garbage can be banned from the country where it's exported in the first place, the pressure on us would be considerably relieved. It's necessary for us to work with international organizations to better tackle these smuggling activities," Li noted.

The reduction in imported solid waste is expected to generate a gap for domestic demand of production raw materials.

The reform plan says by 2020, the volume of domestic recycled solid waste is targeted to increase from 246 million tons as of in 2015 to 350 million, to fill the gap.

To achieve the goal, the plan notes that the solid waste processing industry should be further developed, and relevant equipment and techniques should be improved.

Li Jinhui also suggests domestic garbage should be better classified to raise the exploitation rate of solid wastes.

"Garbage classification will sort out abundant waste paper, waste plastic and other solid waste we have banned or will ban from general rubbish. These wastes can actually be provided to processing companies as raw materials. Therefore, garbage classification and management of solid waste imports will be coordinated with each other in the current regulation design," Li added.

The Chinese government is stepping up the fight against pollution and environmental degradation as decades of fast growth have left the country saddled with smog and contaminated soil.

On July 1, the Ministry of Environmental Protection launched a month-long campaign to crack down on pollution in imported waste processing.

420 inspectors were selected from 27 provincial regions and formed 60 teams to conduct full-scale investigations.