Shanghai officials revealed on Sunday that 70 percent of the city’s household waste is set to be burned in four new waste incineration centers next year to generate electricity.
The incineration hubs are an addition to the five waste burning centers based in the Pudong New Area and Putuo and Jinshan districts. These currently cater to about 40 percent of the residents' wastes.
Shanghai citizens produce around 22,000 tons of garbage daily.
According to Zhang Yi, the Shanghai Environmental Sanitation Engineering Design Institute Chief, they are using incineration as the main method of addressing the city waste issue as land resources are considered scarce for burying garbage.
Zhang said that "if the four new incineration plants begin operations next year, 70 percent of city waste would be burned and used for electricity generation."
The four new plants being built are located in the suburban districts of Jiading, Fengxian, Songjiang and Chongming County.
For the remaining 30 percent, the environmental sanitation czar stated that they would either "be buried or dealt with through other methods."
As fears about emissions in the incineration centers arise, Zhang suggested that the waste hubs should be more open to public visits.
"Incineration centers should invite the public to visit and show how garbage is being put to good use," Zhang remarked.
In Pudong, the Shanghai Laogang Waste Utilization Company recently posted on its website data that includes the firm's emissions.
The company can accommodate 3,000 tons of daily household waste, which in turn could generate up to 300 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
Meanwhile, Shanghai's waste managing center clarified that the city's garbage utilization facilities have standards that are higher than the ones set by the national government, even meeting European levels.