Municipal solid waste management in Beijing: characteristics and challenges

Abstract

An overview of the municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Beijing, a city with a resident population of about 19.61 million in 2010, is presented in the article. Economic development and population growth have resulted in a MSW generation increase from 2.96 million tons in 2000 to 6.20 million tons in 2007, fluctuating to 6.35 million tons in 2010. The components of MSW over the past decade are characterized by increasing food and paper contents, and a decreasing ash content. The percentage of food waste, the main putrescible component, increased steadily from 45.77% in 2002 to 66.98% in 2010. Combustible materials, such as plastic, paper, textile, wood and food waste, accounted for 94.66% of MSW in 2008. There are 15 landfill sites, 2 incinerators and 2 composting plants in Beijing, with a total designed capacity of 15,380 tons/day in 2010. The main waste disposal technology used in Beijing is landfill, which accounts for 92.27% of the total designed capacity in 2008 and 78.54% in 2009. The designed capacity of the existing disposal plants cannot cope with the actual quantity of waste generation, resulting in overloading and premature closure of landfill sites. Solid waste incineration has been given priority in technology development and financial support over other disposal methods.

Characteristics and application potential of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ashes from two waste-to-energy plants

“…It is also known that the properties of the MSWI bottom ashes from different plants and countries vary due to the source of solid waste and incineration process [32,33]. Moreover, the environmental legislation, management and application of the MSWI bottom ashes differ from country to country in consideration of the local situation [34,35]. In the available literature, studies are seldom focused on the stability of the MSWI bottom ashes properties in relation to the different production period and procedure.…”

Revisiting estimates of municipal solid waste generation per capita and their reliability

“…MSW generation per capita at the local level Figure 9 shows MSW generation per capita for 20 major municipalities in Asia and Africa [4,5,17,22,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64]. Each municipal value exceeds the corresponding national value for MSW generation per capita (Figs.…”

“…For example, Pattaya (Thailand), a beach resort city approximately 160 km from Bangkok, has a much higher MSW generation per capita (1.00 kg day -1 ) [5] than the national average (0.64 kg day -1 ). Addis Ababa, Ethiopia [50] Lusaka, Zambia [50] Dar es Salam, Tanzania [50] Dhaka, Bangladesh [51] Kolkata, India [52] Kathmandu, Nepal [53] Jakarta, Indonesia [54] Chennai, India [55] Nairobi, Kenya [56] Phnom Penh, Cambodia [57] Lahore, Pakistan [58] Tehran, Iran [59] Singapore [60] Beijing, China [61] Lagos, Nigeria [62] Shanghai, China [17] Hanoi, Vietnam [63] Seoul, Korea Rep. [64] Osaka, Japan [22] Bangkok, Thailand [5] Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [4] MSW generation per capita (kg person -1 day -1 ) Definitions of MSW Generally municipalities or local governments have the responsibility of managing MSW, with a few exceptions such as in Malaysia, which shifted the responsibility for MSW to the federal government [68]. The existence of different definitions of MSW [69] makes it confusing to interpret and compare estimates of MSW generation in various countries.…”

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soil from three typical industrial areas in Beijing, China

“…A study conducted by Wang and Wang (2013) showed that combustible materials such as plastics, paper, textiles, wood and food waste accounted for 94.66% of municipal solid waste in Beijing. Flame retardants were added to most of these wastes, and PBDEs are a common flame retardant in China.…”