Beijing embarks on aggressive household waste plan

The Beijing municipal government is planning to incinerate increase its waste burn from less than 10 percent last year to 40 percent by the end of 2015, officials said on Thursday.

Wang Yingjian, a senior official from the municipal commission of development and reform, announced the plan at a news conference to release the city's new development and construction plan.

"During the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) Beijing will still face challenges brought by limited natural resources and a growing population, which will lead to problems in water supply, traffic congestion, waste disposal and sewage treatment," Wang said.

Beijing produced 18,300 tons of household garbage every day in 2009 and the number dropped to 17,400 tons in 2010. The daily disposal capacity increased from 12,700 tons to 16,700 tons, according to official data.

"We are planning to transform 55 percent of solid household waste into resources in the coming five years, and to increase the city's daily disposal capacity to 30,000 tonnes," Wang said.

The municipal government revealed that currently 80 percent of waste is being put into landfill, with 10 percent going through a biochemical process and another 10 percent is burned.

By 2015, the ratio will be 30:30:40.