Shanghai Trash: Sweeping Up to Lift People Up
Addressing Shanghai’s Trash Problem Starting From the Bottom of the Pile
Insufficient sanitation and waste management is one of the dirty little large secrets of China’s impressive and, until a few months ago, sustained economic growth in recent years, an unprecedented epoch that has lifted millions out of poverty. While the amount of China’s population living below the poverty line shrank from 53 percent in 1981 to only eight percent by 2001, World Bank (WB) Millennium Development Goals data indicated in 2007 that some 35 percent of China’s population still lack access to adequate sanitation (for the WB definition of adequate sanitation, click here).
Despite coordinated efforts by organizations like the World Bank and UNICEF to improve China’s sometimes less-than-funny potty mouth, management of solid waste, like China’s actual trash heaps, remain insurmountable.
However, some cities in China, like Shanghai, have implemented waste treatment improvements with a certain measure of success. Through international partnerships and local leadership initiative, as well as letting the private sector handle most waste treatment activities, Shanghai has significantly incorporated modern technology into its landfill sites and incineration facilities, thus serving as a “model city” for other Chinese municipalities, at least where sanitation issues are concerned.
One noteworthy accomplishment has been the establishment in Shanghai of China’s largest waste-to-energy facility, capable of handling 3,000 tons of garbage daily and generating up to 270 million kilowatt hours of power annually, or enough juice to light up over 50,000 homes in Shanghai. Since the first plant came online in 2003, another one with comparable capacity has been constructed and begun operation. Located in Puxi, the historic and cosmopolitan area of Shanghai that lies west of the Huangpu river, it is a a Sino-French joint venture between Shanghai Huangcheng Waste-to-Energy Co. Ltd and the “energy environmental services” giant, Veolia.
Starting from the Bottom of the Trash Heap
While urban planning efforts often center around large-scale projects, such as waste-to-energy facilities, which appear to offer a magical panacea, Shanghai has likewise proven capable of taking small, but not inconsequential steps to deliver effective waste management solutions. Two recent news items in particular highlight the importance of starting from the bottom of the trash heap.
As of late 2008, residents in Shanghai’s Jing’an District have an incentive to toss responsibly. As per a new municipal environmental authority-implemented program, residents receive small gifts, like cloth shopping bags, for pre-sorting their garbage. Residents are provided four bins for the following types of trash: glass, organic waste, other recyclables, and other waste.
See some Shanghai recycling schwag on the next page >>
________________________________________________________
