(Yicai) Jan. 13 -- China has unveiled its first national-level action plan for solid waste management to tackle mounting environmental pressures from the country’s growing waste. The plan aims to significantly boost solid waste utilization over the next five years.

By 2030, China’s comprehensive utilization of major solid waste should reach 4.5 billion tons a year, with 510 million tons of key renewable resources recycled each year, according to the action plan issued by the National Development and Reform Commission along with 25 other government departments. Historical waste stockpiles will also be effectively controlled and illegal dumping will be curbed.

China has accumulated roughly 33 billion tons of industrial solid waste, covering an area of about 3,500 square kilometers, Li Gao, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said at a policy briefing today. The country produces over four billion tons of new industrial solid waste every year, posing a growing threat to the environment.

China’s mining, smelting and power generation industries generate huge amounts of industrial solid waste each year, including coal gangue, fly ash, industrial by-product gypsum, red mud and tailings. Moreover, in recent years, traditional infrastructure projects that used to absorb solid waste have slowed down, causing stockpiles to grow further, Li said.

To address this, the country’s new action plan focuses on finding new ways for the large-scale disposal of industrial solid waste, Li added. At the same time it seeks to gradually clean up historical waste sites, with the aim of reducing both new and accumulated waste as soon as possible.

Over the past five years, China has actively promoted industrial solid waste recycling, improving technology and equipment, and fostering coordination across the industrial chain. As a result, the overall utilization rate for major industrial solid waste has reached 57 percent, said Wang Peng, director of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s Department of Energy Conservation and Comprehensive Utilization.

Looking ahead, the MIIT plans to focus on key waste types like slag, phosphogypsum and red mud, while promoting advanced processing technologies and their industrialization. It will also target areas such as scrap steel, copper and aluminum as well as waste paper, plastics and used tires, guiding companies to strengthen the recycling of renewable resources, Wang added.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor