Huizhou attaches great importance to the prevention and control of solid waste pollution, and its treatment capacity and technical level are among the best in the country.
When it comes to solid waste, many people may still be unfamiliar with this concept. However, our city's efforts in solid waste pollution prevention and control have never ceased. To date, our city has established 13 enterprises for the centralized utilization and disposal of hazardous waste, with a permitted capacity of 715,800 tons/year. These enterprises can handle 36 out of 46 categories of solid waste listed in the national solid waste catalog, placing our city's treatment capacity and technological level at the forefront of the country and the province.
Strengthening solid waste pollution prevention and control is crucial for green development and ecological civilization construction. It is a "tough battle" that must be won in the battle to decisively win the fight against pollution. In recent years, the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government have attached great importance to solid waste pollution prevention and control, increasing the intensity of comprehensive management of solid waste, especially hazardous waste. By addressing shortcomings and gaps, carrying out solid work, and strictly enforcing pollution prevention and control measures, the city has effectively promoted standardized management, achieving the goals of reducing, reusing, and harmlessly disposing of solid waste, and ensuring ecological and environmental safety.
Vigorously Promoting the Construction of Solid Waste Treatment and Disposal Facilities
According to relevant officials from the Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, in recent years, our city has vigorously promoted the construction of solid waste treatment and disposal facilities. By the end of 2020, all four key projects included in the Guangdong Provincial Three-Year Action Plan for Solid Waste Pollution Prevention and Control (2018-2020) had been completed. Currently, our city has 12 hazardous waste centralized disposal enterprises with a capacity of 709,800 tons/year; and one medical waste disposal enterprise with a capacity of 6,000 tons/year. Among them, the provincial hazardous waste treatment demonstration center, operated by Huizhou Dongjiang Veolia Environmental Service Co., Ltd., has a permitted scale of 118,000 tons/year (65,000 tons/year landfill, 20,000 tons/year incineration, 33,000 tons/year physicochemical treatment). Its process design and operation management are at the leading level in China, serving as an important final disposal base for hazardous waste in Huizhou and 13 surrounding prefecture-level cities.
"Our city will continue to vigorously promote the construction of hazardous waste utilization and disposal facilities." The official said, such as the Phase III of the provincial hazardous waste treatment center, with a total storage capacity of 97,500 cubic meters, a rigid landfill with a disposal scale of 15,000 tons/year, and waste mineral oil utilization facilities with an annual processing capacity of 30,000 tons.
Strengthening Supervision and Regulation of Enterprise Hazardous Waste Management
Standardized management has become a fashionable concept. Our city has also made strong explorations in the standardized management of hazardous waste, achieving remarkable results: In January 2021, the Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau was commended by the Provincial Ecology and Environment Department as an "advanced collective with outstanding performance in solid waste pollution prevention and control in Guangdong Province," and five individuals were recognized as "advanced individuals."
This honor is inseparable from our city's solid efforts in standardized management. Our city actively promotes the standardized management of hazardous waste and incorporates it into the environmental protection responsibility assessment of county (district) governments. Units that perform well in hazardous waste standardized management are commended, while those that underperform are criticized, encouraging county (district) governments to attach importance to hazardous waste standardized management.
"The battle to decisively win the fight against solid waste pollution is difficult, but it must be fought and won." The official said. To strengthen enterprise supervision, Huizhou will include key hazardous waste generating and disposal enterprises in the "double random" enforcement list, strengthening law enforcement inspections. Each quarter, a site inspection is conducted on all hazardous waste operating units in the jurisdiction. For problems found during the inspection, enterprises are required to rectify them, and for enterprises that fail to rectify, the hazardous waste transfer platform review will be suspended.
In 2019, the Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau commissioned a qualified third-party accounting firm to conduct a special audit of hazardous waste management for all hazardous waste operating units and 40 generating units in the city, uncovering problems and forcing enterprises to improve their management levels.
At the same time, our city relies on the provincial solid waste environmental monitoring information platform to achieve information management of hazardous waste generating enterprises throughout the city. All hazardous waste generating units must submit their annual management plans to the platform for approval before issuing electronic transfer slips. All hazardous waste generating and disposal units must regularly submit hazardous waste management accounts through the information platform for review. All levels of ecological and environmental departments in the city regularly conduct supervisory inspections and assessments of the implementation of these measures by enterprises. Enterprises that fail to meet the assessment standards are immediately ordered to rectify, and illegal environmental activities involving hazardous waste are severely punished.
In recent years, ecological and environmental departments at all levels in the city have conducted information platform operation and use training for more than 3,200 enterprises. Currently, Huizhou has achieved electronic hazardous waste transfer slips.
Severely Cracking Down on Illegal Transfer, Dumping, and Disposal of Solid Waste
To decisively win the fight against solid waste pollution, "strictness" must be prioritized. In recent years, our city has launched special campaigns to severely crack down on illegal hazardous waste activities.
"Our city has carried out special investigations and rectifications of illegal transfer, dumping, and disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste." The official introduced that in 2018, our city organized a special investigation and rectification campaign against the illegal transfer, dumping, and disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste; in 2019, documents such as the "Huizhou City Implementation Plan for Special Rectification of Illegal Dumping of Garbage and Hazardous Waste," "Work Plan for City Public Security Organs to Carry Out Special Actions Against Illegal Transfer and Dumping of Hazardous Waste," and "Notice on Carrying Out Special Actions Against Illegal Transfer, Dumping, and Disposal of Solid Waste Pollution" were formulated. Multiple departments, including urban management, ecology and environment, transportation, and public security, jointly implemented these measures, further consolidating departmental responsibilities, strengthening source management, and increasing efforts to crack down on the illegal transfer and dumping of hazardous waste and garbage; in 2020, in accordance with the unified arrangements of the Provincial Ecology and Environment Department, special work on hazardous waste environmental safety and standardized management was carried out throughout the city; in 2020, a joint investigation with the public security and procuratorial organs, as well as transportation and maritime departments, was conducted to thoroughly investigate environmental risks and hidden dangers of hazardous waste, and a special law enforcement action was organized for hazardous waste collection and disposal enterprises throughout the city.
At the same time, we cooperated with the province in conducting special inspections to crack down on illegal activities related to solid waste. From May 22 to 26, 2018, we cooperated with the seventh inspection team of the province to inspect 15 enterprises, discovering 45 environmental problems, filing cases against 3, and ordering 15 to rectify within a time limit, all of which have now been completed. A special law enforcement action was carried out for hazardous waste collection and disposal enterprises throughout the city. From November 16 to 18, 2020, the ecological and environmental departments checked the storage and disposal of hazardous waste in 17 hazardous waste disposal units in the city, further strengthening the sense of ecological and environmental responsibility and law-abiding awareness of enterprises, and effectively improving the standardized management of hazardous waste disposal units in our city. A rectification action was carried out in the dangerous goods transportation industry. On March 23, 2020, the Municipal Transportation Bureau and the Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau jointly issued the "Notice on Issuing the " (Hui Shi Jiao Fa [2020] No. 96), launching an eight-month special action across the city to crack down on various illegal transportation of hazardous waste and illegal business operations.
Source/Huizhou Headline Reporter/Huang Xiaona
Compiled/Huizhou Ecology and Environment WeChat Editorial Team
