Newsletter from China (03/23/2007)
1. China drafting first “circular economy” law (2007-3-21)
China is drafting its first law on creating a so-called “circular economy” to provide
a legal framework for its national sustainable development strategy, the country’s top
environmental legislator announced recently. Mao Rubai, chairman of theEnvironmental and Resources Protection Committee of the National People'sCongress (NPC), said the draft law, designed to improve resource efficiency, will be
submitted for review in August and is expected to pass at the end of the year.
The goal of the law is to bring attention to a wide range of environmental
considerations as China continues its high-speed economic growth. The law requires
low energy consumption and high efficiency, low emissions of pollutants, andminimal waste discharge, using the “3-R” principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle.
According to Mao, the draft includes basic management requirements to reduceresources and recycle them where possible.
“Some mandatory systems with details are written into the draft, which provide thelaw with a high possibility of practice,” Mao said. For example, one article instructs
industries to assume responsibility for “taking back” and recycling the packing
materials from their products. The draft also demands that different economic sectors,including governments, save water and energy and reuse wastewater, solid waste, andwaste heat. It also calls for the recycling of larger waste products such as abandoned
vehicles and ships, mechanical and electrical products, and computers and other“e-waste.”
Incentives are included in the draft, such as establishing a special fund fordeveloping the circular economy as well as preferential tax, investment, andgovernment purchasing policies for enterprises and agencies performing circularmeasures. The draft also stipulates certain penalties for groups that do not.
When drafting the circular economy law, China learned from the experiences ofmany industrialized countries, especially Germany and Japan, which have rich

practice in waste recycling and developing a circular economy and society, Mao said.
But China has had to adapt these models to its special conditions, he noted.
Different voices have cast doubts on the draft, however. One environmental expert,
who wishes to remain anonymous, said the law was drafted just as a token element of
the central government’s sustainable development strategy. “Comparing the draft with
the Law on Promoting Clean Production, which took effect in 2003, this is nobreakthrough. It is very hard to see the necessity to draft a new law,” the expert noted.
“Many articles in the draft are very hard to put into practice in China, like asking
producers to collect and recycle packing
materials. Furthermore, the draft does not include clear and tough punishment for
those who violate the rules of the circular economy.”
2. Village tired of foreign garbage (China Daily, 2007-01-18)
The Emma Maersk was loaded down with Chinese-made Christmas gifts when she
set out for Europe, but when the world's largest container ship returned to her home
port, she carried a much less jolly cargo nearly 200,000 tons of foreign garbage.
Much of it was dumped on Lianjiao, a village in Nanhai District in the city ofFoshan, leaving local authorities with no option but to get tough on the local
enterprises that have accepted the waste.
"We are still investigating who imported this garbage," said Huang Songhua,
vice-director of the Nanhai Environmental Protection Bureau.
Lianjiao is already home to about 200,000 tons of waste plastic and 500,000 tons ofwaste paper and cardboard from both overseas and home. The quality of its air andwater have declined because of pollutants unleashed by the more than 400 local
garbage recycling and processing plants there.
"Ninety percent of them (the recycling and processing plants) are running without
licenses They process collected garbage inappropriately by just burning it without
separating it," Huang said.
And the damage is severe.

"The land and water are so polluted that it would take over 100 years to rehabilitate
them," said He Pinjing, director of solid waste institute of Tongji University. "It isalready a major headache to handle our own waste. How are we supposed toaccommodate overseas waste?"In an attempt to prevent the situation from deteriorating further, the Nanhai
government recently ordered all garbage recyclers and processors in Lianjiao and six
other adjacent villages to cease operations before January18.
According to a CCTV report, the government, in conjunction with the local security
bureau and fire department, has set up monitoring stations at all points of entry intoNanhai to bar any vehicles carrying waste plastic from entering the district. Waste
plastic is one of the major sources of pollution in the district.
"The waste plastic recycling business will be terminated in Nanhai," said district
Vice-Director Feng Yongkang.
Enforcement of the ban will involve a variety of measures.
"Plants found operating after January 18 will be forced to shut down. Thoserunning without licenses or are unqualified will be banned immediately," agovernment official told reporters.
"All of the garbage left at Lianjiao will be sent to a local environmentally friendly
electricity plant to be burned to generate electricity."
Choked with the black smoke that pours from chimneys of its garbage plants andsurrounded by rivers that have been blackened by pollution, Lianjiao has processedmore than 200,000 tons of garbage per year during the past 20 years. The volume ofits daily trade in garbage is nearly 750 tons, making it the heart of Nanhai's waste
plastic recycling industry.
3. Sewage collection and treatment system to be expanded (Shanghai,2007-01-24)
By the end of this year, the Sewage Collection and Treatment System will cover theurban area of Shanghai and the sewage emission will reach the state standard.
On January 23rd, the pipeline-laying in the third phase of Shanghai Sewage
Harness Project has been finished, and the whole work is estimated to be completed

by the end of this year, one year advance of the plan. Till that time, the Sewage
Collection and Treatment System will cover the urban area of Shanghai and thesewage emission will reach the state standard.
The third phase of the Project started from December 2003, consist of sewage
pipeline system, the 2nd Zhuyuan Sewage Treatment Plant, sewage collection systemand other sub-items. Mainly including the north of Puxi Suzhou River, the south ofZaobang, the north of Pudong Zhaojiagou, and the urban area where the sewage has
not been properly treated, the third phase of the Project is to cover 171.68 square
kilometers, serving the population of 2.431 million, with designed sewage flow of1.0883 million tons a day.
In the construction of the third phase project, the most difficult task is the laying of
the gigantic pipeline which is 25 kilometers in length and 2.7 meters in diameter. Andin some parts the pipe is even 25 meters under the surface of Huangpu
River. Between the parallel lines, there is only 1.8 meters-----. Considering that, theconstruction enterprise decided to lay the two pipes from different ends
simultaneously. And the is only 48 days between the completion of the first pipe andthe second pipe.
Biogas is another hot potato in the construction. Sometimes its concentration in the
air reached 11.2%. To solve this problem, the construction enterprise increased
ventilation equipment and appointed technicians to monitor and record the biogas
concentration. Once the concentration exceeds the safe indicator, all workers will be
informed to evacuate immediately.