The "Garbage Mountain" Dig: Why China is Now Short on Waste
In Shenzhen, workers are excavating a 20-year-old "garbage mountain" – an old landfill containing 2.5 million cubic meters of waste. The project has drawn attention because it highlights an unexpected shift: parts of China now have more incineration capacity than waste to burn.
Once considered a problem, waste has become valuable. Modern incinerators generate electricity from burning trash, and leftover materials can be processed into construction products. This change helps explain why cities are now digging up old landfills.
How Incineration Has Changed
The image of smoking, smelly waste plants is increasingly outdated. Many new facilities, like one in Shenzhen that processes 5,000 tons daily, resemble public buildings or parks. Some include educational centers and have become places people visit rather than avoid.
These plants use negative pressure systems to contain odors. Combustion occurs at over 850°C, which helps limit harmful emissions. Some facilities now use AI to monitor flames and adjust airflow automatically. The heat generates steam that drives turbines to produce electricity. The Shenzhen landfill excavation mentioned above yields enough power for about 26,000 homes yearly.
Incineration has become China's main waste treatment method, handling nearly 79% of municipal waste in 2024.
Why China Turned to Burning
Through the 1990s and 2000s, China's rapidly growing cities relied heavily on landfills. Many ran out of space, and leachate posed groundwater risks. In some cities, landfills essentially became part of the urban perimeter.
China first tried importing incinerators from Japan in 1985, but these were designed for drier Western waste. Chinese household waste contained more food scraps and moisture, making it difficult to burn efficiently without extra fuel.
Over time, domestic companies redesigned the equipment. They developed grates that tumble wet waste more effectively and improved pre-treatment to reduce moisture content. By 2004, the first fully domestic system was operating in Chongqing. Government subsidies for waste-to-energy power helped expand the market.
The industry gradually built a complete local supply chain, from specialized steel to monitoring equipment. This lowered costs compared to European or US facilities.
By early 2025, China had over 1,000 waste incinerators, mostly in coastal cities. This solved landfill shortages but also created a new situation: some regions now have more processing capacity than locally available waste.
Moving into Other Markets
With domestic demand stabilizing, Chinese companies have begun building incinerators elsewhere. In 2022, a Chinese-built plant in Hanoi began processing about 5,000 tons of waste daily. Similar projects exist in Thailand, the Maldives, and Ethiopia.
Many of these countries face conditions similar to China's earlier situation: growing cities, full landfills, and mixed waste with high moisture content. Chinese technology was developed specifically for this type of waste. Companies typically operate these plants for decades, not just build them.
This is partly a business response to maturing markets at home, but it also reflects that the technical approach China developed is applicable in other developing countries where waste composition differs from Europe or North America.