Abstract
The rapidly growing output of solid waste has brought tremendous pressure to urban development. China launched an action plan known as “Zero-waste city” (ZWC), that refers to an urban development model aimed at reducing the generation of and enhancing the recycling of solid waste, in order to alleviate environmental impacts. Eleven cities and five special zones achieved positive results of solid waste management were selected as pilot areas for exploring empirical methods until 2019. The practices and lessons of the pilot cities need to be deeply analyzed and summarized, so as to promote successful models, learn lessons and better implement the policy comprehensively for other cities. This study presents a review of China’s ZWC policies and practices with constructive suggestions for further development. Based on the policy objective of ZWC and the field investigation of solid waste flow, five crucial approaches to developing ZWC are proposed, namely, solid waste reduction throughout the industrial chain, collaborative treatment of classified municipal solid waste (MSW), efficient utilization of agricultural waste with multiple purposes, safety control of hazardous waste flow, and optimization of market mechanisms. The case study demonstrates that the five paths are appropriate to Xuzhou city. However, deficiencies in MSW classification, pesticide packaging waste collection systems, solid waste product application, management, and policymaking, have emerged. Regulatory prohibitions, extended producer responsibility and market vitality should be adopted to improve the collection, transportation, and utilization of solid waste. Key findings from this research are to summarize crucial paths toward fulfiling ZWC goal, and to reveal some successful practices of, and lessons from ZWC construction by case studies. This study provides a method to further implement zero solid waste management in a targeted manner. The recommendations drawn from the study, which include law, market and institutional measures, may contribute to the achievement of developing sustainable cities.
Highlights
The acceleration of urbanization and industrialization have led to a sharp increase in solid waste output
Optimization of institutional and market mechanisms refers to the solving of the problems of decentralization of solid waste management functions and lack of market vitality based on regulations or policies
Construction projects and solid waste collection, recycling, and disposal facilities should be promoted with the cooperation of third-party governance or public–private partnerships (PPPs), to achieve effective solid waste management and sharing of risks and profits using social capital
Summary
The acceleration of urbanization and industrialization have led to a sharp increase in solid waste output. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China issued the work plan of the “Zero-waste City” Pilot Program in China” in 2019 It proposed the concept of a zero-waste city which refers to an urban development model aimed at reducing the generation of, and promoting the recycling of, solid waste, reducing landfill, and minimizing the environmental impact of solid waste by promoting green development and green lifestyles. Solid waste management in developing countries represents a real environmental and social concern, since open dump sites or unsuitable sanitary landfills become the main final disposal method due to a lack of technical means and financial input [30,31,32,33,34] Compared with those of cities in developed countries, China’s ZWC work plan is more comprehensive and includes solid waste from social, agricultural, and industrial sources. An outlook of the policies to best support future ZWC development is proposed and discussed
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