Reporter | Chen Xin, intern reporter Tang Qingqing
Following the mandatory implementation of domestic waste classification in Shanghai and other cities, Beijing, as one of the 46 pilot cities in the country, has also officially launched waste classification curtain. On May 1, 2020, the new version of the "Beijing Domestic Waste Management Regulations" (referred to as the "Regulations") will be officially implemented.
The "Regulations" quoted the names and expressions of the four categories of garbage in the latest national standards, dividing domestic waste into four categories: "recyclables, hazardous waste, kitchen waste, and other waste", and made it clear for the first time Units and individuals are responsible for the classification and distribution of domestic waste.
Liu Jianguo, a professor at the School of Environment at Tsinghua University, told Jiemian News that the core highlight of the "Regulations" implemented in Beijing this time is to clarify the responsibilities of various stakeholders in the waste classification chain, including the classification of units and individuals. Responsibility for waste disposal, responsibility for source reduction by production and service enterprises and government agencies, responsibility for back-end collection, transportation, and classification of waste, etc.
The "Regulations" propose that Beijing's waste classification adheres to the leadership of the party committee, government leadership, social coordination, public participation, legal guarantees, and scientific and technological support, and follows the principles of reduction, resource utilization, and harmlessness, as well as urban and rural policies. Based on the principles of overall planning, scientific planning, and comprehensive utilization, the city will implement overall planning and local responsibility, and gradually establish and improve the social service system for domestic waste treatment.
In 2019, Beijing’s domestic waste removal volume was 10.1116 million tons, with an average daily volume of 27,700 tons. Li Rugang, deputy director of the Beijing Urban Management Committee, said at a press briefing on April 27 that as of March 2020, the city's total designed domestic waste processing capacity reached 32,700 tons per day, which can meet the needs of waste classification and processing.
In order to promote garbage classification, Wen Tianwu, deputy director of the Beijing Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau, said that from May 1 to July 31, Beijing will focus on a three-month special project to strengthen law enforcement on domestic waste classification. Action, focusing on investigating and punishing mixed piles of domestic waste, mixed loading and transportation by collection and transportation companies, etc.
For residents who fail to implement the illegal classification of domestic waste, Beijing will use a combination of educational dissuasion, written warnings and law enforcement penalties. According to the "Regulations", if an individual fails to classify domestic waste according to regulations and refuses to listen to dissuasion, the urban management department will give a written warning. If he violates the regulations again, he will be fined not less than 50 yuan but not more than 200 yuan.
“The threshold for personal punishment is actually very high. Only when a person refuses to fulfill his responsibilities will he be punished. This is more to send a signal and exert a deterrent effect. But for those responsible for collection and transportation , the penalties for companies that dispose of garbage are relatively severe," Liu Jianguo said.
According to the "Regulations", if the responsible entity of the unit does not classify domestic waste according to regulations, the urban management law enforcement department will order it to make immediate corrections and impose a fine of 1,000 yuan; if the regulations are violated again, a fine of more than 10,000 yuan will be imposed. 5 Fines of up to 10,000 yuan.
Solid waste treatment expert and professor at the School of Environment of Tsinghua University Jiang Jianguo pointed out that since garbage classification is a law, residents and units must abide by it. If done well, there will be incentives, which can also improve the quality of residents and units. Positivity.
The "Regulations" also clarify that sub-district offices, township people's governments and persons responsible for domestic waste classification management can encourage units and individuals to carry out domestic waste reduction and classification through rewards, commendations, points, etc. According to China Youth Daily, many streets and communities in Beijing have independently launched personalized reward measures, such as redeeming garbage classification points and setting up red and black lists. Beijing will also provide certain financial incentives to communities and streets with good implementation results.
However, compared with Shanghai’s vigorous and vigorous approach in enforcing garbage classification in 2019, the measures formulated by Beijing are relatively flexible. Cai Huashuai, deputy director of the Facilities Department of the Beijing Urban Management Committee, told the media that Beijing has chosen a gradual and steady strategy based on the experience of waste classification in other cities and combined with reality, focusing more on quality than quantity.
For example, the garbage classification required by Beijing does not distinguish between dry and wet garbage like Shanghai, nor does it require regular and fixed placement, and fully considers the matching of front-end placement, transportation and back-end processing capabilities, and classification methods It is also relatively pragmatic. "If people are unable to distinguish food waste and recyclables very accurately, they can put it among other garbage. This approach is highly operable and can also reduce people's resistance to garbage classification." Liu Jianguo said.
On April 26, 2019, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Comprehensively Carrying out Domestic Waste Classification Work in Cities at Prefecture Level and Above Nationwide", proposing that starting from 2019, all municipalities at prefecture level and above nationwide will Cities must comprehensively launch domestic waste classification work; by the end of 2020, 46 key cities must basically establish waste classification and processing systems.
Jiemen News noticed that among the first batch of 46 key cities selected, many cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Taiyuan, Changchun, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Yichun, Yinchuan and other cities have introduced domestic waste management Regulations clearly incorporate waste classification into the legal framework.
On the eve of the implementation of Beijing's "Regulations", the 17th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress reviewed and approved the revised "Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste" on April 29. Effective from September 1, 2020.
The "Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste" clearly states that the state implements a domestic waste classification system, and requires local governments at or above the county level to speed up the establishment of a domestic waste management system that includes classified placement, collection, transportation and treatment to achieve an effective domestic waste classification system. cover.
As for the progress of garbage classification work in various places, at the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council on April 12, Liu Lifeng, deputy director of the Urban Construction Department of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, revealed that as of the end of 2019, 46 key The coverage rate of urban domestic waste classification in residential areas is close to 70%. In other cities at or above the prefecture level, this work has also been fully launched. Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shaanxi and other provinces are coordinating and promoting domestic waste classification work throughout the province as planned.
The results of promoting garbage classification in various places are also showing. According to data released by Shanghai City, within 3 months after the "Domestic Waste Management Regulations" were officially implemented on July 1, 2019, Shanghai's wet waste separation volume reached more than 9,000 tons/day, an increase of approximately 2,000 tons/day compared with June 2019. day; the amount of recyclables separated was more than 5,600 tons/day, an increase of approximately 1,600 tons/day compared to June 2019; the amount of hazardous waste separated was 0.62 tons/day; the dry waste disposal volume was as low as approximately 15,275 tons/day, an increase of approximately 1,600 tons/day compared with June 2019 In June of this year, it decreased by approximately 4,000 tons/day.
In an interview with Jiemian News, Zhang Yi, chairman of China Environmental Alliance, said that the "Regulations" formulated by Shanghai and Beijing are local regulations that have great influence and set an example in the country, " We look forward to the introduction and implementation of Beijing's new Regulations to create more leading, operable and replicable 'Beijing models' and 'capital experiences'."
However, Zhang Yi also said. It is pointed out that the challenge of promoting the garbage classification process is of a fundamental nature. This is not only a challenge faced by Beijing, but also a problem in other cities. At present, the main thing is to overcome the "four difficulties": that is, it is difficult to develop the habit of putting food, it is difficult to change the mixing before and after separation, it is difficult to deal with food waste, and it is difficult to form a joint management force. This requires a process.
“The most important thing about garbage classification is how to achieve the classification goal at the source. This actually requires the cooperation of residents. How to get the garbage generators to effectively classify according to the requirements is definitely the most important and difficult. "One step." Jiang Jianguo analyzed that from a government perspective, after the comprehensive promotion of garbage classification, the garbage collection and transportation system will definitely change. Whether the government's end-of-line treatment facilities can meet the requirements for the entry, exit and processing of different types of garbage after source classification. This is also a problem faced by Beijing and other cities.
“Garbage classification does not only refer to garbage disposal, but also emphasizes social pluralism and governance.” Liu Jianguo told Jiemian News that Beijing’s “Regulations” mainly emphasize that the government regards garbage classification as a public welfare and people’s livelihood. As a business, the government is responsible for the complete disposal of garbage, and people in each link need to perform their duties, and finally a healthy operating system can be formed.