Recently, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Health and Wellness Commission, the People’s Bank of China, the State Administration of Taxation, the General Administration of Market Supervision, the Bureau of Statistics, the State Administration of Taxation, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the Post Office, and the National Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, jointly issued the "Waste-Free City" In view of the background, significance, general requirements, main tasks and safeguard measures of the Work Plan, the head of the Solid Waste and Chemicals Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment answered the reporter’s questions.
Q: What is the background of the Work Plan?
A:The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to the prevention and control of solid waste pollution. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core has placed ecological civilization construction and ecological environment protection in a prominent position in governing the country, and paid unprecedented attention to the prevention and control of solid waste pollution. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader has repeatedly given relevant important instructions, presided over meetings to study and deploy the reform of the management system for solid waste import, the classification of domestic waste, and the treatment of plastic pollution, and personally promoted the relevant reform process.
In order to explore the establishment of a long-term system and mechanism with low solid waste production intensity, high recycling level, less landfill disposal and less environmental risk, and promote the modernization of the governance system and governance capacity in the field of solid waste, in early 2018, the Central Committee for Deep Reform included the pilot work of "Waste-free City" in its annual work points; In December of the same year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Pilot Work Plan for the Construction of a Waste-free City", and the pilot work for the construction of a waste-free city was officially launched. After more than two years of exploration, the pilot work has achieved the expected results.
In November, 2021, "Opinions of the State Council, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Deepening the Fight against Pollution" clearly proposed to steadily promote the construction of a "waste-free city". In order to implement the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and guide all localities to do a good job in building a "waste-free city", the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with the Development and Reform Commission and other 17 departments and units, formulated the Work Plan.
Q: What achievements have been made in the pilot work in the early stage of building a "waste-free city"?
A:
At the same time, through the pilot project of "waste-free city" construction, we have built a set of index system, solved a number of shortcomings and weaknesses, and formed a number of replicable promotion models, which have accumulated experience and explored the path for the in-depth development of "waste-free city" construction nationwide.
Q: What is the relationship between the construction of a "waste-free city" and the high-quality development of the city?
A:"Waste-free city" is an advanced urban management concept. "Waste-free city" does not mean that there is no solid waste, nor does it mean that solid waste can be fully utilized as resources. Instead, it refers to an urban development model that takes the new development concept as the guide, promotes the formation of a green development mode and lifestyle, and continuously promotes the source reduction and resource utilization of solid waste, minimizing the amount of landfill and minimizing the environmental impact of solid waste. During the pilot period, the "11+5" pilot cities will consider solid waste management and economic and social development as a whole, and treat solid waste comprehensively, systematically and at the source from the urban level, so as to promote the cities to make remarkable progress in accelerating the formation of spatial pattern, industrial structure, production mode and lifestyle of resource conservation and environmental protection. The pilot practice shows that the construction of "waste-free city" is helpful to accelerate the transformation of urban green and low carbon, promote the high-quality development of the city and create a high-quality life with high-level protection.
Q: What is the relationship between the construction of a "waste-free city" and the in-depth fight against pollution?
A:The construction of a "waste-free city" is an inherent requirement for deepening the battle against pollution. On the one hand, the prevention and control of solid waste pollution itself is an important part of the fight against pollution, and the construction of "waste-free city" is an effective starting point to improve the level of solid waste pollution prevention and control. China’s industry, life, agriculture, construction and other fields produce more than 11 billion tons of solid waste every year, with a larger accumulated stock in history, and the situation of pollution prevention and control is grim. "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Deepening the Fight against Pollution" puts forward in its main objective that by 2025, the capacity of solid waste control will be significantly enhanced, and puts forward specific requirements for strengthening solid waste pollution control and steadily promoting the construction of a "waste-free city". On the other hand, strengthening solid waste pollution control in an all-round way and building a "waste-free city" are also important manifestations of the change from "resolutely laying a good job" to "deeply laying a good job" in pollution prevention and control. Promoting the tough battle to broaden the scope and extend the depth of governance will not only promote the governance of water, gas and soil pollution, but also help solve the utilization and harmless disposal of final pollutants after governance in these fields.
Q: What is the relationship between the construction of a "waste-free city" and pollution reduction and carbon reduction?
A:The prevention and control of solid waste pollution "is connected with pollution reduction at one end and carbon reduction at the other". Practice at home and abroad shows that strengthening solid waste management has obvious effect on reducing carbon. The analysis results of relevant institutions on the data of carbon emission reduction potential of solid waste management in 45 countries and regions around the world show that by improving the whole process management level of four types of solid waste in the fields of industry, agriculture, life and construction, the carbon emission reduction of the corresponding countries can be achieved by 13.7% to 45.2% (average 27.6%); During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, compared with the "long process" steelmaking process with natural iron ore as the main raw material, the "short process" steelmaking process in China has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.38 billion tons. Carrying out the construction of a "waste-free city" and systematically promoting the reduction, recycling and harmlessness of solid waste in the fields of industry, agriculture and life can better promote the fundamental change of energy structure and the optimization and adjustment of industrial structure, transportation structure and land use structure, thus realizing the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction.
Q: What are the working ideas and objectives of building a "waste-free city" during the Tenth Five-Year Plan period?
A:During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, the general idea of expanding and deepening the construction of "waste-free city" is to thoroughly implement the ecological civilization thought of the supreme leader, base on the new development stage, implement the new development concept, build a new development pattern, promote high-quality development, coordinate urban development and solid waste management, adhere to the principle of "three modernizations", focus on the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, and promote the construction of "waste-free city" in about 100 cities at or above prefecture level.
To do a good job in the construction of a "waste-free city" during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period, we must adhere to the following principles. First, adhere to systematic planning and integrated promotion, and systematically plan and promote the construction of a "waste-free city" under the major strategic deployment of deepening the battle against pollution and carbon neutrality in peak carbon dioxide emissions. Second, adhere to problem-oriented and goal-oriented, speed up the completion of relevant governance systems and infrastructure shortcomings, and continuously improve the comprehensive management capacity of solid waste. The third is to govern according to law, deepen reform, improve the long-term mechanism for the prevention and control of environmental pollution by solid waste, and deepen the reform of institutional mechanisms. Fourth, adhere to the leadership of the party and government, multi-governance, and build a "waste-free city" construction work pattern with the leadership of the party Committee, the leadership of the government, the participation of enterprises, social organizations and the public.
The goal of building a "waste-free city" is: by 2025, the intensity of solid waste production in a "waste-free city" will decrease rapidly, the comprehensive utilization level will be significantly improved, the harmless disposal capacity will be effectively guaranteed, the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction will be fully exerted, the management information of solid waste will be basically realized, the concept of "waste-free" will be widely recognized, and the solid waste management system and capacity will be significantly improved.
Q: What are the main tasks defined in the Work Plan?
A:Focusing on the key areas and key links of solid waste pollution prevention and control, the Work Plan mainly defines seven tasks.
The first is to scientifically prepare the implementation plan and strengthen the top-level design guidance. The key point is to strengthen the planning convergence, establish an evaluation system and strengthen the infrastructure guarantee.
The second is to speed up the green and low-carbon development of industry and reduce the pressure of industrial solid waste disposal. The key point is to accelerate the exploration of the path model of industrial solid waste reduction in key industries and the construction of "waste-free mining areas", "waste-free parks" and "waste-free factories" in combination with the requirements of pollution reduction and carbon reduction in industrial fields.
The third is to promote green and low-carbon development in agriculture and rural areas and improve the comprehensive utilization level of major agricultural solid wastes. The key point is to develop ecological planting and ecological breeding, establish a development model of agricultural circular economy, and promote the recycling of livestock manure, straw, agricultural film and pesticide packaging.
The fourth is to promote the formation of a green and low-carbon lifestyle and promote the reduction and recycling of solid waste from domestic sources. The key point is to vigorously advocate the concept of "no waste", carry out garbage sorting in depth, accelerate the construction of a recycling system for waste materials, promote the whole chain treatment of plastic pollution, and promote the source reduction and resource utilization of municipal sludge.
Fifth, strengthen the whole process management and promote the comprehensive utilization of construction waste. The focus is to vigorously develop energy-saving and low-carbon buildings, comprehensively promote green and low-carbon building materials, and promote the recycling of building materials.
Sixth, strengthen supervision and utilization of disposal capacity to effectively prevent and control environmental risks of hazardous wastes. The key point is to implement standardized management of hazardous wastes, explore ways to use risks under control, and improve the basic support capacity of centralized disposal.
Seventh, strengthen the construction of system, technology, market and supervision system, and comprehensively improve the support capacity. The key point is to improve the system of departmental responsibility list, statistics and information disclosure; Strengthen the research, development, application and standard formulation of advanced technologies; Improve the market-oriented mechanism; Strengthen management measures such as informatization and pollution discharge permit.
Q: How to screen and determine the list of "waste-free cities"?
A:The municipal people’s government shall, on a voluntary basis, apply to the provincial department of ecology and environment, and the relevant departments at the provincial level shall jointly determine the recommended list and submit it to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment before February 15, 2022. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with relevant departments, shall, according to the recommendation of provinces (municipalities directly under the Central Government), comprehensively consider the basic conditions of cities, work enthusiasm and relevant major strategic arrangements of the state, and determine the list of cities to carry out the construction of "waste-free cities". County-level administrative districts, development zones, etc. with great demonstration significance can be promoted with reference to the construction requirements of "waste-free cities".
Q: What are the safeguards for building a "waste-free city"?
A:The construction of "waste-free city" is a systematic project, which needs a long time to make contributions. The first is to strengthen organizational leadership. At the national level and the provincial level, coordination mechanisms will be established respectively to strengthen the organization and guidance of the construction of "waste-free cities" and promote the formation of joint efforts. Relevant cities should establish relevant work leadership systems and mechanisms and improve safeguard measures according to the needs of building a "waste-free city". The second is to strengthen the guarantee of policy funds. Relevant cities should study and improve the policy system, establish and improve diversified investment channels, and ensure the capital demand for the construction of "waste-free cities". The third is to strengthen scientific and technological support. The key point is to strengthen the dominant position of enterprises in innovation, promote the sharing and transformation of technological achievements in solid waste utilization and disposal, and actively carry out international cooperation and technical exchanges. The fourth is to do a good job in propaganda and guidance. It mainly includes increasing publicity, expanding the scope of publicity, innovating publicity methods, strengthening education and training, and encouraging public opinion supervision.
In addition, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will systematically sum up the effectiveness and experience with relevant departments, institutionalize effective innovation measures, and strengthen the popularization and application of experience models; The study will give incentives to cities with outstanding achievements in the construction of "waste-free cities" or obvious improvement in the management level of solid waste.