Review of the development of environmental protection industry in 2020 and outlook of 2021
Review of the development of environmental protection industry in 2020 and outlook of 2021
I. Industry review in 2020
In 2020, a new version of the law of the People's Republic of China on the prevention and control of environmental pollution by solid waste and relevant policy standard has been issued. Besides, a lot of works including the implement of "no waste city", the "total" banned the import of solid waste "living garbage classification" and "plastic pollution control" and so on, promoted the standardization of the solid waste disposal industry development in our country. With the continuous emergence of new technologies, China's solid waste treatment and disposal technology and resource utilization level has been further improved, and the development trend is good. But at the same time, there are also problems need to be addressed such as large historical solid waste piles and unclear industrial scale. Besides, disposal technology and capacity is still insufficient, the comprehensive utilization rate is not high.
1.1 Laws, regulations, policies and standards
1) New Solid Waste Law was revised and implemented
On September 1, 2020, the new version of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste (hereinafter referred to as the "New Solid Waste Law") was formally implemented. The new Solid Waste Law stipulates that the prevention and control of environmental pollution by solid waste should adhere to the principles of reduction, resource utilization and harmless utilization, and strengthens the supervision and management responsibilities of the government and its relevant departments. China has improved the environmental pollution prevention and control system for industrial solid waste, domestic waste, construction waste, agricultural solid waste and hazardous waste, and set higher requirements for the prevention and control of the whole process of solid waste generation, collection, storage, transportation, utilization and disposal.
2) Municipal solid waste
On July 31, the "urban MSW garbage sorting and treatment facilities to strengthen the weak areas of implementation plan" was released, clear the urban MSW sorting and treatment facilities construction objectives; On November 27, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other 12 government departments jointly issued several opinions on further promoting the work of MSW sorting, which put forward phased targets for 2020 and main targets for 2025.
In order to strengthen the control of plastic pollution, on January 16, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the "further strengthen the plastic pollution control opinions"; On July 10, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other departments jointly issued a notice on promoting the work of plastic pollution control, which lays out plans for the further work of plastic pollution control, especially the completion of phased targets by the end of 2020. On December 14, the General Office of the State Council forwarded a notice on speeding up the green transformation of express packaging from the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments. In addition, specific implementation plans have been introduced successively, such as the Implementation Plan of Tianjin Municipality on Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control, the Implementation Plan of Shanghai Municipality on Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control, the Action Plan of Chengdu Municipality on Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control, and the Action Plan of Beijing Municipality on Plastic Pollution Control (2020-2025), etc.
3) Hazardous waste
A meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Tuesday called for efforts to improve the collection and treatment facilities for medical waste and hazardous waste. The general offices of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council issued a guideline on strengthening the safety of hazardous chemicals production on February 27, requiring the supervision of hazardous wastes such as discarded hazardous chemicals to be strengthened. On Nov 25, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and five other government departments jointly released the 2021 version of the National List of Hazardous Wastes, which included 467 types of hazardous wastes, 12 fewer than the 2016 version. In the appendix, 16 new types of hazardous waste are exempted, bringing the total number of hazardous waste exempted to 32 types. On December 17, "hazardous waste incineration pollution control standards" (GB18484-2020) released, the standard for GB18484-2001 adjust the scope of application of the standard, strengthen the pollution control technical requirements; On December 31, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the Notice on Promoting Information Technology in Environmental Management of Hazardous Wastes, requiring the full application of the national solid waste management information system, and orderly promotion of monitoring and information tracing of the whole process of hazardous waste generation, collection, storage, transfer, utilization and disposal.
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, the medical waste disposal by country attaches great importance on it. Lots of regulations such as“coronavirus pneumonia outbreak emergency disposal of medical waste management and technology guidelines (trial) ", "waste comprehensive treatment work plan of medical institution" "concentrated disposal facilities of medical wastes ability construction implementation plan" the medical waste disposal pollution control standard "(GB39707-2020), have issued policy standards.
To strengthen the standardized management of different types of hazardous waste, ecological environment has released the stabilizing arsenic slag disposal engineering technical specifications "(HJ1090-2020)" the recycling waste lead accumulator pollution control technical specifications "(HJ519-2020)" the waste lead accumulator of hazardous waste management unit review and licensing guidelines (try out) "and" life of MSW fly ash pollution control technical specifications (trial) "(HJ1134-2020).
4) Others
On December 15, 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued“the beijing-tianjin-hebei in and around industrial resource comprehensive utilization of industrial cooperative transformation promotion plan (2020-2022)" in the field of industrial solid waste. Regional development goals are put forwarded from the comprehensive utilization efficiency, industrial clusters and technological innovation center, key enterprises and institutional construction. On December 17, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the "general industrial solid waste storage and landfill pollution control standards" (GB18599-2020), the standard is the revision of GB18599-2001, further strengthen the general industrial solid waste storage, landfill process pollution control technical requirements. In the field of construction waste, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued the Guidance on Promoting Construction Waste Reduction, which clarifies the objectives of construction waste reduction in various regions. In the field of agricultural solid waste, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the Guidance on the Recovery and Treatment of Fertilizer Packaging Waste, which defined the objectives of the pilot construction of the recovery and treatment of fertilizer packaging waste. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment jointly issued the "Management Measures for the Recycling and Treatment of Pesticide Packaging Wastes", which set out requirements and clarified legal responsibilities for its application scope, management responsibilities at all levels and construction of the pesticide packaging waste recycling and treatment system. In the field of import of solid waste, ecological environment, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments issued "about specification of recycling copper brass materials, renewable materials and announcement of casting aluminum alloy raw materials import management related matters concerning the specification of renewable steel raw material import management related matters announcement concerning the comprehensive announcement of relevant matters of banned the import of solid waste.
2. Industry development
1) Pilot construction of "waste-free city"
By 2020, the pilot construction of "waste-free city" has made phased progress, laying a solid foundation for the nationwide implementation. It mainly includes: 1) The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with the National Development and Reform Commission and 18 other departments, formulated and issued the Work Plan for the Construction of "Waste Free Cities" Pilot Project in 2020; 2) Issuing the Compilation of Advanced Applicable Technologies for the Pilot Construction of "Waste Free City" (the first batch); 3) Concise a batch of reproducible and popularizable demonstration models; 4) On September 12-13, the National "Waste Free City" Construction Pilot Promotion Conference will be held. However, there are still the following problems: 1) the tasks and projects of some pilot cities and regions are slightly delayed in the process of advancing due to the influence of Covid-19 epidemic situation and economic factors; 2) The four systems of institutional system, technology system, market system and supervision system have not really achieved synergistic effect.
2) Industrial solid waste
With the continuous development of the industrial industry, the output of industrial solid waste continues to grow. According to the National Ecological and Environmental Statistics Bulletin from 2016 to 2019, the output of general industrial solid waste increased from 3.71 billion tons in 2016 to 4.41 billion tons in 2019, an increase of 18.7%. Comprehensive utilization has also increased, from 2.11 billion tons in 2016 to 2.32 billion tons in 2019. In 2020 with the implementation of the new solid waste law and the relevant policies and standards, industrial solid waste collection, utilization, disposal aspects got the effective restriction and supervision, but there are also some problems: unbalanced regional development, overall level comprehensive utilization and resource utilization, resource utilization technology research remains to be development and upgrade, lack of resource product standards, etc.
3) Municipal solid waste
By 2020, China's MSW sorting work will be fully carried out, and significant results will be achieved in the reduction and recycling of food and kitchen waste, and positive progress has been made. The coverage rate of MSW sorting areas in 46 key cities has reached 86.6 percent, and the average recycling rate of household waste is 30.4 percent, with 15 cities reaching or exceeding 35 percent. The kitchen waste disposal capacity has increased from 34,700 tons per day in 2019 to the current 62,800 tons per day, showing initial achievements. According to the announcement on October 14 by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, a total of 24 pilot cities have passed the acceptance test for the utilization and harmless treatment of kitchen waste in 2020.
4) Hazardous wastes
With the release of relevant policies and standards such as the National Hazardous Waste List (2021 edition) and Pollution Control Standards for Hazardous Waste Incineration, China's hazardous waste management system is becoming more and more perfect, and the disposal capacity of hazardous waste is significantly improved. By the end of 2019, China's centralized use and disposal capacity of hazardous waste exceeded 110 million tons per year, according to a press conference held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Nov. 30. The utilization capacity and disposal capacity have doubled and increased by 1.6 times as compared with the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan. However, there are also some problems at present, such as: hazardous waste production data statistics is not complete, some enterprises waste type and quantity is not clear; Small and micro enterprises and some types of hazardous waste are difficult to collect and costly to dispose of. Lax supervision of facilities for self-use and disposal of hazardous waste; Hazardous waste resource utilization standards are missing.
5) Forbidden of foreign waste
The year 2020 marks the anniversary of the ban on foreign waste, and imports of solid waste have dropped sharply. By November 15, China's total imports of solid waste were 7.18 million tons, down 41 percent year on year. The goal of zero import of solid waste has been basically achieved by the end of 2020, according to the Implementation Plan for the Reform of the Management System for Solid Waste Import and Prohibition of Entry of Foreign Waste issued by the General Office of the State Council on July 18, 2017.
3. Key technologies
1) National advanced pollution prevention and control technology
On December 9, 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has issued the Announcement of the National Catalogue of Advanced Pollution Prevention and Control Technologies for 2020 (in the Field of Solid Waste and Soil Pollution Prevention and Control). Among them, there are 28 advanced technologies in the field of solid waste, including 21 demonstration technologies and 7 promotion technologies, mainly including "sludge drying and granulation and cooperative incineration technology with domestic waste", "high temperature plasma melting technology of fly ash incineration of domestic waste", "high temperature dry and hot treatment technology of medical waste", etc.
2) Environmental Technology Progress Award
On 7 December, China environmental protection industry association released the "2020 annual environmental technology progress prize winning project list, 36 winning projects in the field of solid waste related technologies have 6 items, mainly include, “green disposal of the key technology and complete sets of equipment based on the technology of paste tailings source reduction ", etc.
3) Environmental Protection Science and Technology Award
On December 22, China environmental science society to release the announcement of the winners of the 2020 environmental protection science and technology prizes, 9 of 44 winning projects was related to the field of solid waste related technologies, mainly includes the "key technologies for disposal of sludge recycling of the whole chain and application" and "short-range use lithium battery waste and pollution control technology and application", etc.
4) key practical technologies and demonstration projects for environmental protection
On December 23, China environmental protection industry association released its 2020 list of the key environmental protection practical technology and demonstration project ", including 66 items of practical technology and 55 demonstration projects, technology in the fields of solid waste.
II. Outlook for 2021
1. Implement the new Solid Waste Law
Further compaction generates the enterprise's main responsibility, strengthens the government's territorial responsibility implementation and the department's supervision and cooperation ability; Pushing forward the work of revising supporting systems and regulations required in the new Solid Waste Law, and establish and improve the construction of new solid waste, such as construction waste, agricultural solid waste, kitchen waste and other new solid waste category policies and standards; Strengthening environmental supervision and law enforcement of solid waste, and severely crack down on environmental violations of solid waste; Further increasing the new "solid waste law" in the local publicity, encourage the holding of related training courses.
2. Promote the construction of "waste-free city"
On the basis of the existing "waste free city" construction pilot, continue to promote the pilot in the system, technology, market, supervision and other aspects of the summary and innovation work, evaluation and summary of the existing results and achievements. Forming a replicable, promoted of technical mode and path in key areas to form. At the same time, gradually expand the scope of "waste-free city" construction pilot, such as carrying out the second batch of "waste-free city" construction pilot, or in the appropriate province, regional construction pilot work.
3. Strengthen the construction of solid waste recovery system
Continuously promote the work of household garbage classification, set up garbage collection points and recycling transfer stations in different levels and regions, and improve the level of recyclable materials sorting and utilization. Strengthen the fine management of hazardous waste classification, improve the construction of hazardous waste collection system for small and micro enterprises, promote the pilot work of centralized collection and storage, and solve the difficulty of hazardous waste collection for small and micro enterprises.
4. Enhance the comprehensive utilization capacity of solid waste
Encourage the popularization and application of the National Catalogue of Advanced Pollution Prevention and Control Technology and the award-winning technologies and lists issued by relevant platforms in the fields of household waste, construction waste, industrial by-product gypsum, waste lead battery, waste mineral oil, etc. Increase investment in the development and upgrading of solid waste comprehensive utilization technology, strengthen cooperation between enterprises and universities, research institutes and other scientific research institutions, innovate existing technologies and facilities, and improve the comprehensive utilization capacity of solid waste.
5. Accelerate the development of a standard system for comprehensive utilization of solid waste
Increase the investment in the construction of standards for comprehensive utilization of solid waste, ensure the working funds for the construction of standards, and strengthen the basic research of standards; The priority of standard formulation should be strengthened, and standards should be formulated in different levels. For example, basic and leading standards should be formulated at the national level, risk prevention and control standards of important industries or fields should be formulated at the industrial level, and standards related to products or raw materials with high market demand should be formulated at the group level.
Source from Technical Division of the Solid Waste Treatment and Utilization Committee