14 November 2014: The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a Municipal Solid Waste Management Project, with a US$12 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to China. The project aims to improve the environmental performance of municipal solid waste incinerators through capacity building and demonstration of best available techniques (BAT) and best environmental practices (BEP) in accordance with the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

The Bank reports that China’s rapid economic development, urbanization and increasing living standards have led to a five-fold increase in the municipal solid waste collected and transported, from 85,000 tons per day in 1980 to 430,000 tons per day in 2009, with 1.6 million tons per day projected for 2030.

Incineration is becoming a popular disposal method in urban areas where landfills are lacking and national policies encourage energy generation from waste. The number of waste incinerators in China is projected to increase from 93 in 2009 to 200 in 2015. At the same time, China’s waste incineration is the third-largest source of dioxin release, which can cause severe toxicity and health effects. Waste incinerators also produce other pollutant emissions and residual wastes.

Although the Stockholm Convention recommends measures to control environmental impacts of waste incinerators, including enhancing incineration and flue gas treatment process, effective monitoring and inspection, and sharing information with the public, few of China’s cities and waste incinerators comprehensively apply the Convention BAT and BEP, according to GEF.

Thus, the Municipal Solid Waste Management Project aims to demonstrate and build capacity for BAT and BEP application in two ‘demonstration cities’: Kunming in southeast Yunnan Province, and Ningbo in eastern coastal Zhejiang Province. Nationally, the project will: expand the training programme for incinerator managers and operators; support the government in developing technical regulations for municipal solid waste disposal; and help enforce China’s recently enacted dioxin emission limit. [World Bank Project Webpage] [GEF Press Release]