Solid step toward ecological civilization: China Daily editorial

The countdown to a complete ban on imports of solid waste began on Wednesday when four ministerial-level departments issued a joint notice making it clear that any importing, dumping, stacking and disposing of solid waste from overseas is prohibited from Jan 1.

Meaning that China will no longer be a rubbish dump for developed countries.

It was in the 1980s when China lacked resources to feed its fast developing industries that the country gave a green light to imports of certain categories of solid waste from which it could extract some useful raw industrial materials.

However, with the dramatic increase in imports since then and the loose oversight over the industry, the environmental pollution incurred in the process of extraction and disposal of the solid waste has become increasingly prominent.

It is estimated hundreds of millions of metric tons of solid waste have entered the country through various channels over the past four decades. But with the country's industries becoming more innovation-driven and people becoming more environmentally aware, it was only a matter of time before China stopped imports of solid waste and tightened its supervision of the recycling industry.

The State Council, the country's Cabinet, rolled out a reform plan for management of the industry in 2017 — after which the imports plummeted — and the next year the central authorities vowed to close the country's door to solid waste imports by the end of 2020, which was written into the newly revised Law on Solid Waste Environmental Pollution Prevention and Control in April, which lays out clear guidelines and specifications for businesses to follow in promoting environmental protection.

The notice jointly issued by the ministries last week is the culmination of these moves. Under the ban, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will no longer issue import licenses for solid waste.

That it takes the top decision-makers to chalk out a road map to weed out the related industries should drive home the scale of these industries and the implications of the ban, as well as the country's determination to protect its environment.

It is to be hoped that closing the door on solid waste from overseas will boost the country's efforts to recycle its own solid waste. The industries that recycle imported solid waste can now further upgrade their technologies and management, and dedicate their capacities to disposing of domestic solid waste, most of which ends up in landfills or incinerators.

Given its mammoth economic and industrial size and role as a production base for the global market, if China can properly handle its own solid waste within its borders, that will be a laudable contribution to the world.