Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

China’s waste management used to focus on industrial solid waste and in order to tackle its shortage of resources for the economic take-off since the 1980s, it has imported waste for recycling and recovery from abroad. The waste import ban announced in 2017 was only part of the new package of China’s waste management 2.0. For decades, China’s serious failure in waste management has resulted in cities and towns besieged by garbage dumps. This paper analyses China’s waste management 2.0 that focuses on waste reduction, reuse, recycle and recovery, and safe disposal. The priority is reduction. Reduction in consumption of virgin resources and reduction in waste for final disposal can be achieved by improved rates of waste recycling and recovery. The paper considers four key aspects: (i) implementation of the extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme; (ii) consolidation and modernization of the recycling and recovery industry; (iii) public participation in compulsory waste sorting; and (iv) promotion of green consumption in the society. The paper examines both state instruments and local practices that are leading waste management into a new stage.