China opens hazardous wastes disposal to competition

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 18, 2003

China opens hazardous wastes disposal to competition

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The Chinese government announced Wednesday that it will open the hazardous wastes disposal industry to foreign and private investment and competition in the construction and operation of disposal facilities.

The State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) and four other government departments have jointly issued a notice on adopting a surcharge system and accelerating industrialization of hazardous wastes disposal.

The SDRC required local governments to invite tenders for the construction and operation of disposal facilities, and called for local governments to fully open the sector to market competition.

China generates a total of 9 million tons of hazardous waste every year. Only 6 million tons are recycled or disposed of safely.The remaining 3 million tons are stored in temporary facilities. Atotal of 20 million tons is now stored, posing a serious threat tothe environment.

The Chinese government has worked out plans to earmark more than 20 billion yuan (3.4 billion US dollars) for building adequate facilities to properly treat all hazardous wastes by 2005.

The margin of surcharges on waste disposal would be set by local government departments, the SDRC noted. Operators of waste disposal facilities were permitted to set their own prices within government limits and sign service agreements with trash producing units.

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