Review and Analysis of Waste Incineration Standards in China
China's waste incineration industry started in the late 1980s, and has experienced exploration period, gradual growth period, rapid development period and stable development period. Looking at the development of waste incineration industry in China for more than 30 years, policy support, demand-driven and technological advantages are the three most important driving factors. The introduction of a series of policies has mobilized the enthusiasm of local governments and enterprises and effectively promoted the development of the "whole industrial chain" of waste incineration; At the same time, the relevant industry authorities are also actively promoting the standardization construction in the field of waste incineration. By integrating standardization into industrial policies, the purpose of standardizing industrial technical standards, strengthening technical exchanges and cooperation, and improving industrial technical level and innovation ability has been achieved, effectively promoting the rapid and high-quality development of waste incineration industry. Waste incineration standards can be divided into national standards, industry standards, local standards, group standards and enterprise standards; It can be divided into mandatory standards and recommended standards in terms of the effectiveness of standard implementation; From the functional category, it can be divided into basic, product and technology, engineering planning and construction, project operation and maintenance, EHS (environment, health and safety), evaluation and supervision standards. Based on the development stage of waste incineration engineering technology in China, the construction of waste incineration standard system in China can be divided into "initial starting stage before 2000", "important development stage from 2001 to 2010" and "detailed optimization stage from 2011 to now". There were only a few national and industrial standards before 2000; During 2001-2010, more than 10 most basic and important national and industrial standards were formulated. After 2011, the industry standard of waste incineration is developing towards refinement and optimization. In addition to the optimization and revision of the standards in the above stages, the scope of standard formulation is refined to the aspects of pollutant treatment, single equipment, operation and supervision of waste incineration power plants. After the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", with the strengthening of national ecological environment construction, relevant industrial policies have been introduced one after another, the speed of standard preparation and revision has been obviously accelerated, and the standard system in the field of waste incineration has been gradually improved, which has promoted the technological innovation and sustainable development of the industry.
Review of development process
1. Initial stage (before 2000)
In 1988, China's first waste incineration plant was completed and put into operation in Shenzhen, which opened the prelude to the development of modern large-scale municipal solid waste incineration treatment in China. Before the 21st century, China mainly relied on the introduction of foreign advanced incineration equipment to directly treat garbage, and the imported equipment was "acclimatized". Therefore, at this stage, universities, scientific research institutions and enterprises have carried out targeted industrialization research to explore experience for localization of incineration equipment. Because waste incineration is still in the exploratory stage, there were only a few national and industrial standards in the field of waste incineration before 2000.
In 1996, the former State Environmental Protection Administration formulated a small incinerator HJ/T 18-1996 for the identification of environmental protection products in China. At the end of the 20th century, the state attached great importance to environmental pollution and emission. Besides national standard (GB) and environmental protection standard (HJ), three standard codes, namely GWKB (pollution control standard), GWPB (pollutant emission standard) and GHZB (environmental quality standard), were specially activated. In 2000, in order to reduce the secondary pollution caused by domestic waste incineration, the former State Environmental Protection Administration formulated the GWKB 3—2000 pollution control standard for domestic waste incineration, which was abolished after the implementation of HJ/T 18-1996. In 2000, the former State Bureau of Industrial Machinery issued JB/T 10192-2000 technical specifications for small incinerators, which stipulated the definition, requirements, test methods, inspection rules, signs, signs, operating instructions, packaging, transportation and storage of small incinerators. In the same year, in order to standardize the design, manufacture, installation, sales, operation and maintenance of domestic waste incineration products with domestic waste as the set fuel, CJ/T 118-2000 domestic waste incinerator was proposed by the Institute of Standards and Quotas of the former Ministry of Construction.
2. Important development stage (2001-2010)
After the 21st century, China introduced and digested a large number of foreign technologies and equipment, gradually realized the localization of waste incineration equipment, and promoted the initial growth of waste incineration industry. According to statistics, the number of garbage incineration plants in China has increased from 47 in 2003 to nearly 110 by the end of 2010, and more than 10 very important national and industrial standards have been issued at this stage.
In 2001, the former State Environmental Protection Administration issued the national compulsory standard GB 18485—2001, the pollution control standard of domestic waste incineration, which was abolished after the implementation of the standard. In 2002, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine issued GB/T 18750-2002 domestic waste incineration boiler, which was formulated on the basis of CJ/T 118-2000 and later revised to GB/T 18750-2008 domestic waste incinerator and waste heat boiler. In 2002, the former Ministry of Construction issued CJJ 90—2002 Technical Specification for Domestic Waste Incineration Treatment Project, which was later revised as CJJ 90—2009. In 2009, in order to strengthen the scientific management of domestic waste incineration plants and ensure the safe, normal and stable operation of waste incineration facilities, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development formulated CJJ 128—2009 technical regulations for operation, maintenance and safety of domestic waste incineration plants. In 2010, in order to standardize the project construction and operation management of domestic waste incineration plants and improve the construction and operation level of domestic waste incineration plants, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development formulated CJJ/T 137-2010 evaluation standard for domestic waste incineration plants. With the promulgation of policies such as "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Circular Economy", the waste incineration industry has also formulated and issued standards related to resource utilization. In September, 2010, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine issued GB/T 25180—2010 technical requirements for comprehensive treatment and resource utilization of domestic waste and GB/T 25032—2010 domestic waste incineration slag aggregate.
3. Refinement and optimization stage (2011-present)
After 2010, China's waste incineration industry has achieved rapid development due to the continuous upgrading of policy support, the demand-driven urbanization construction and the mature localization of key equipment for waste incineration. According to the statistical data of China Statistical Yearbook, China's garbage incineration capacity has increased from 94,114 t/d in 2011 to 804,670 t/d in 2022. From 2011 to 2022, the formulation and publication of industry standards in the field of waste incineration increased rapidly, during which nearly 30 national and industry standards were published for the first time, nearly twice as much as those published in 2001-2010.
At this stage, the standard is developing towards refinement and optimization, the standard content is "fine in granularity" and covers a wide range, and the standard system of waste incineration is gradually improved. During this period, several national and industrial standards have been revised, expanding the scope of application of standards and improving the requirements of standards. Up to now, the revised current names and standard numbers of several national and industry standards related to waste incineration are GB 18485—2014 domestic waste incineration pollution control standard, CJJ 128-2017 domestic waste incineration plant operation maintenance and safety technical standard, CJJ/T 137-2019 domestic waste incineration plant evaluation standard, GB/T 18750-2022 domestic waste incinerator and waste heat boiler, etc. In addition to the optimization and revision of the original standards, this stage will focus more on the refinement of standards, and the types of standards will shift from basic and environmental protection to products and technologies, project operation and maintenance, evaluation and supervision.
During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" and "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan", under the guidance of "garbage classification", "circular economy", "waste-free city" and "double-carbon goal", China gradually formed the construction mode of venous industrial park with garbage classification as the goal, multiple kinds of garbage collaborative treatment and disposal as the means, carbon reduction and pollution reduction as the guidance, and incineration as the main body. The scope of standard formulation extends to collaborative disposal, resource utilization, "double carbon" and so on. After 2018, with the promulgation and implementation of the new Standardization Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), the legal status of group standards has been clarified, with emphasis on encouraging relevant social organizations and industrial technology alliances to formulate and implement group standards. Social organizations such as China Urban Environmental Sanitation Association (HW), China Environmental Protection Industry Association (CAEPI) and China Electric Power Enterprise Association (CEC) began to organize the formulation of group standards related to waste incineration and achieved initial results.
Problems existing in current standards in the field of waste incineration
1. The standard text format lacks uniform specifications.
The international standard classification number marked on the cover of China's early standards is UDC (Universal Decimal Classification), that is, decimal classification. In 1996, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine decided to use ICS (International Classification for Standards) in China's national standards, industrial standards and local standards from January 1, 1997. GB/T 1.1—2020 Standardization Guidelines Part 1: The structure and drafting rules of standardized documents also stipulate that the International Classification for Labeling (ICS) number and the China Standard Document Classification (CCS) number should be marked on the cover of standards, but at present, some countries and industry standards still use UDC number, and the industry code is not marked; Most landmarks do not write standard covers according to the format requirements. In addition, in the process of compiling standards, there are also some irregularities in the format of reference documents, adoption of standards, compilation and citation of terms and definitions, and numbering of chapters and articles.
2. The formulation and revision of national and industrial standards are slow and the coordination between standards is insufficient.
In the process of compiling and revising national and industrial standards, the main bodies of compiling and revising a number of standards disappeared due to the cancellation or merger of some industrial authorities, which led to difficulties in subsequent revision and maintenance. Although the administrative departments involved in the national and industrial standards of waste incineration have changed in the past 20 years, the main responsibilities still clearly continue after the integration and division, and most of the national and industrial standards related to waste incineration were formulated after 2000, so there are few problems in the revision and maintenance of the old standards. However, after 2020, the number of national and industrial standards related to waste incineration has been significantly reduced, which has been unable to meet the standardization needs of new technologies and new processes and regulatory operations under the new situation. In addition, for the same standardization object, there are cases where different compiling units independently formulate different standards. For example, under the background of China's "Double Carbon Target", there are many related standards for waste incineration carbon emission reduction accounting, but there is a lack of connectivity between the units responsible for standard compilation and the technical committees responsible for auditing, which may lead to uncoordinated and contradictory standards after the release of these standards.
3. More stringent local environmental standards have been released one after another, and the pressure on enterprises has increased.
In recent years, pollution control standards for waste incineration in various places have been issued one after another, and their requirements far exceed the standards currently implemented by the European Union, the United States and Japan, which, to a certain extent, increase the pressure and risk of production and operation of waste incineration enterprises. In addition, raising pollution control standards too quickly is not conducive to the introduction, digestion and absorption of technology and innovation attempts of enterprises; Too long flue gas purification process and drug consumption also caused more environmental emissions at the equipment manufacturing end and operation stage. Taking Jiangsu Province as an example, if Jiangsu's second exposure draft is formally implemented, the deacidification and denitrification facilities are upgraded and optimized, and the usage of bag filter and activated carbon is appropriately increased, the total cost of treatment facilities will be 1.448 billion yuan, and the annual operating cost will increase by 452 million yuan. Taking Shanghai as an example, if the Shanghai Exposure Draft is formally implemented, it will cost about 300 million yuan to upgrade and upgrade the flue gas, and the annual operating cost will increase by 45 million yuan.
4. Lack of quality and credibility of group standards.
The development of foreign group standards has a long history. Most countries such as the United States, Japan and the European Union implement a standard system dominated by group standards, and many group standards have risen to national standards or international advanced standards in the development process. Take the standard of American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) as an example. ASTM is the largest non-business organization that sets voluntary standards in the world at present. It has over 30,000 members in more than 140 countries around the world, and more than 100,000 units participate in the standard setting, which has been widely adopted by the International Organization for Standardization and other countries in the world. In 2015, the Notice of the State Council on Printing and Distributing the Reform Plan for Deepening Standardization put forward the requirement of cultivating and developing group standards for the first time, and the system of group standards in China began to be built, so the group standards in China are still in the stage of exploration and development. According to the public information of the national group standard information platform, as of December 31, 2022, there were 7,058 social groups registered in the national standard information platform, and social groups published a total of 51,078 group standards on the platform. The number of registered social organizations and the number of published group standards have surged, but at the same time, there are some problems such as the lack of social recognition of group standards and the imperfect acceptance mechanism, the lack of good standardization behavior of social organizations and the lack of professional standardization technical ability, and the lack of scientific and effective management mechanism and supervision system in the formulation and implementation of group standards.
Conclusions and suggestions
1. Strengthen the standardization of text format in the process of standard preparation.
The competent government departments under the jurisdiction of national, industrial and local standards related to waste incineration should strengthen the publicity of the new Standardization Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) and the current GB/T 1.1—2020, and the technical committees of standards should strengthen the normative review of text formats such as cover and structure during the preparation of standards.
2. Accelerate the compilation and revision of recommended national and industrial standards in the field of waste incineration and improve the coordination between standards.
Government departments need to speed up the formulation and revision of relevant national and industrial standards in the field of waste incineration, especially the formulation of recommended standards for new flue gas treatment technology, deep waste heat utilization technology, steam high-parameter technology, intelligent power plant technology, fly ash recycling and building materials, and venous industrial park coordination, and carry out technical reforms to ensure the effectiveness and scientificity of mandatory standards. In addition, we should strengthen the establishment of the connection mechanism between standard technical committees, promote the interoperability of standard contents, and avoid the contradiction and disharmony between different standards aiming at the same standardization object.
3. Formulate local environmental protection standards for waste incineration that meet economic and technical indicators.
Local environmental protection bidding can be appropriately slowed down, so that enterprises have the opportunity to try new technologies and new processes, and give domestic environmental protection equipment time to mature and improve; The government should increase the funds and policy support for the research and development of new processes and technologies. For the formulation of local standards, the environmental impact of waste incineration project discharge should be evaluated based on the whole life cycle, combined with the current technical level of the industry, investment in technical equipment, operating costs, and the situation of foreign developed countries, and the eco-environmental department should organize industry experts to conduct full and fair argumentation, so as to formulate scientific and feasible local environmental protection standards and promote the technological progress of waste incineration industry.
4. Improve the access threshold of group standards and improve the implementation mechanism.
Government departments need to improve the pre-requirements for social organizations to carry out standardization work, so as to ensure that social organizations have sufficient professional and technical capabilities for standardization work; It is necessary to strengthen the construction of third-party evaluation mechanism to track and evaluate the standard formulation process, standard release quality and standard implementation; We should strengthen the financial support and policy support for outstanding social groups, so as to build the dominant brand of group standards and promote the orderly development of supply-side structural reform. Social organizations need to strengthen talent construction, strengthen the pre-study of prospective standards, fully understand the implementation of group standards, actively broaden the forms of publicity and promotion of group standards, and form a rational process of standard formulation and post-implementation evaluation; It is necessary to improve its own supervision mechanism and self-declaration disclosure mechanism, establish good standardization behavior and improve the quality and level of group standards.
Source:
1. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/tVoeRB4tkzsxuRjQFIHMVw