SOE, Tsinghua, March 8th, 2021 (correspondent: Shan Guijuan) On March 6, commissioned by the Department of Solid Wastes and Chemicals of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of PRC(Hereafter “DSWC/MEE”), co-organized by the School of Environment of Tsinghua University and the Technical Center for Solid Waste and Chemicals Management of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of PRC, and hosted by the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, a high-level seminar on "Zero-Waste Cities" in China ("the seminar") was held in Beijing. Twenty-one renowned experts in the field of "zero-waste cities", including academicians Du Xiangwan, Jin Yong, Chen Yong, He Kebin of Chinese Academy of Engineering and Pan Jiahua, Member of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, were invited to give speeches and offer advice on building "zero-waste cities". Qiu Qiwen, Director General, and Zhou Zhiqiang, Deputy Director General of DSWC/MEE attended the seminar. The meeting was co-chaired by Prof. Liu Yi, the Dean of School of Environment of Tsinghua University, and Professor Li Jinhui, Executive Director of Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific.
The seminar was one of the series of High-level Forums on Solid Waste and Chemicals. The experts at the conference affirmed the effectiveness of the pilot of "Zero-waste Cities" and analyzed the theoretical basis, general paths, specific approaches of the pilot from a macro perspective, as well as coordinate the program with the national carbon peak and carbon neutrality strategies; they also put forward concrete suggestions on how to use carbon footprint analysis, performance evaluation, standard construction, and the building of an international network of "Zero-waste Cities" to help build each of zero-waste city from an operational perspect.
In January 2019, China’s State Council published the Work Plan on “Zero-waste Cities” Pilot Program in China. The program is a powerful tool to deepen the reform of comprehensive management of solid waste on a municipal level, boost more zero-waste cities, enhance ecological civilization, and build a beautiful China. Oriented towards the goals of building "Zero-waste Cities", the pilot cities and regions are carrying out the work plan from perspectives of regulation, technologies, market, and supervision in an orderly fashion. As China's ecological civilization system reform is gaining momentum, the "zero-waste cities" pilot program will further explore solutions to the challenges that constrain solid waste management in China, plan a longer-term development path for cities, promote green development, and contribute to the environmentally sound management of solid waste in the globe in terms of innovative waste management solutions, technologies, and participation of all sectors.
