The Transition of Municipal Solid Waste Management in China: Transition Route and Mechanism towards Sustainable Waste Management

摘要

Starting from a general review of generation and characteristics of municipal solid waste in China and associated evolution of solutions to the municipal solid waste problems, this paper has depicted the current state of municipal solid waste management system and policy system in China and its possible direction of transition and associated difficulties based on the current policy climate. This paper suggests that the concept of sustainable waste management is multi-faceted and can be viewed on different levels, hence contested in terms of value, of which different actors have different understanding. A synergy needed to be achieved, and, meanwhile, conflicts and biased hostile which may lead to retreat of promising solutions towards sustainable waste management need to be overcome or avoided. Therefore, this paper proposes that a renewal on approaches towards sustainable waste management should be pursued and studied, in which different solutions to waste problem can be accommodated so that more space for diversified innovative solutions can be created and maintained, and, meanwhile, the joint efforts of different actors in a society can be mobilized towards a common vision and goal. A general framework for transition is presented. The paper suggests that bottom-up approaches need to be paid more attention to and be enhanced in China, and it is also the aim of this paper to stimulate debates on how to foster, mediate and manage bottom-up efforts, and link them with top-down efforts, and also on what does this mean for different actors.