China's Waste Management Paradox: Urban Incinerators Face Shortages Amid Rural Disposal Struggles
Recent data highlights a growing imbalance in China's waste management infrastructure. According to the latest figures from China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, 5% of the country's urban waste incinerators are currently sitting idle half the time due to a shortage of garbage. Meanwhile, rural areas are experiencing frequent illegal disposal issues, with reports of open-air dumping and landfilling in karst caves in provinces such as Shanxi, Yunnan, and Hunan.
The Urban Overcapacity Problem
Industry experts project that by the end of 2025, China's built capacity for domestic waste incineration will reach 1.1 million tons per day, capable of burning 360 million tons annually. However, the country currently generates about 320 million tons of waste per year. This supply-demand mismatch has led to idle capacity and intense competition for waste among facilities.
Operating Below Capacity: An executive at a waste-to-energy plant in Sanhe, Hebei province, noted their facility is operating at half capacity due to severe shortages. Everbright Environment, China's leading waste incineration operator with over 200 projects and a daily capacity exceeding 200,000 tons, reports encountering similar challenges.
Rapid Industry Expansion: China's waste incineration sector has expanded rapidly, now accounting for approximately 60% of global daily processing capacity—exceeding the combined capacities of Europe, the United States, and Japan. The number of facilities grew from 67 in 2005 to over 1,000 in 2024, driven heavily by government subsidies and franchise agreements.
The Rural Logistical Bottleneck
While urban plants seek more waste, rural areas face prohibitive logistical costs. The standard "village collection, town transfer, county treatment" model has become expensive as disposal shifts from local landfills to centralized incineration. Transporting waste from remote mountainous villages to county centers can sometimes cost more than transporting agricultural goods. Consequently, this leads to delayed collection, illegal dumping, or open-air burning in geographically isolated regions.
Experts note a regional divide regarding these issues. Incineration capacity is relatively saturated in northwestern China but overabundant in the southeast. Disparities also exist within individual provinces and cities based on economic development, population density, and existing collection infrastructure.
Economic Risks for the Industry
Waste-to-energy plants in China rely on three primary revenue streams: Municipal tipping fees (ranging from 50 to 150 RMB per ton); Electricity sales; State power subsidies.
Because profitability is directly tied to waste volume, reduced input increases the risk of financial losses. Over 95% of these facilities are operated by private enterprises. Experts warn that widespread, prolonged operational losses could lead to plant closures, creating systemic risks and the potential for renewed waste accumulation in urban centers. Despite current overcapacity, some companies continue to invest in new facilities, exacerbating the resource competition.
Exploring Solutions
Authorities and industry analysts are exploring new models to bridge the urban-rural gap and optimize existing capacity:
Landfill Mining: In Shenzhen's Luohu District, the Yulong landfill is being excavated to make way for a high-tech park. The extracted waste is being supplied to nearby incinerators. However, analysts caution that not all landfills hold economic value for excavation.
Co-processing Industrial Waste: In the European Union, industrial solid waste comprises up to 45% of the fuel for waste-to-energy plants. In China, municipal incinerators typically lack the necessary qualifications to process industrial waste, and doing so without authorization can result in legal penalties.
Localized Rural Systems: Recently, national authorities have signaled a push to extend incineration capabilities to the county level. For rural areas, experts recommend localized solutions—such as composting kitchen waste for fertilizer and utilizing small-scale, renewable-powered incinerators—rather than strictly replicating centralized urban models.
The Role of Waste Sorting
Despite the abundance of incineration capacity, experts emphasize that garbage classification remains essential. The objective of waste sorting is resource recovery rather than simply facilitating incineration. Effective waste sorting is viewed as a foundational step to reduce waste at the source, optimize urban incineration efficiency, and make rural disposal more manageable and cost-effective.
Source: CCTV News WeChat Official Account, April 11, 2026. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/MC479QQ5gdo-tVsJzYDdzA