Beijing facing 'garbage crisis'
BEIJING, June 10 (RIA Novosti) - The Chinese capital is facing a "garbage crisis" as the city's facilities struggle to cope with the ever increasing levels of waste that are growing at 8 % per year, the China Daily said on Tuesday.
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With the city producing some 18,400 tons of garbage every day and the city's processing plants only able to dispose of 10,400 tons, Beijing has an overload rate of 67 %, the newspaper said.
"Beijing will face a 'garbage crisis' soon as its current waste disposal capacity cannot meet the growing amount of trash," the newspaper quoted Chen Yong, director of the city's municipal administration commission, as saying.
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The Chinese capital, home to 16 million people, already faced a similar crisis in the 1980s. "Judging from the current situation, it will soon have another one," Chen said on the Beijing Public Service Radio program on Sunday.
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China is reported to have produced some 280 million tons of garbage annually, causing major environmental pollution. While the government is devising measures to deal with the "garbage problem," Chen has called on the population to reduce the amount of household waste they throw away.
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In June 2008, the Chinese government introduced a national ban on shops giving out free plastic bags to customers, aimed at curbing the huge litter problem generated by non-biodegradable bags, which accumulate in landfills and are rarely recycled.
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China launched a crackdown on plastic bags, and banned the production of ultra-thin bags in January 2008. According to official statistics, China, now officially the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, uses up to 3 billion plastic bags a day.
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Pekín sufrirá "crisis de basura" dentro de pocos años
ResponderEliminarMoscú, 10 de junio, RIA Novosti.
La capital china, Pekín, va a sufrir dentro de algunos años una "crisis de basura", advirtió hoy la agencia de noticias Xinhua.
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Pekín produce hoy 18.000 toneladas diarias de residuos. Si el ritmo incrementa en un 8% cada año, la ciudad tendrá 12 millones de toneladas de basura para 2015.
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Entretanto, de los 13 vertederos que tenía Pekín dos ya tuvieron que cerrar por estar saturados. La capacidad de los restantes alcanza para cuatro años, como máximo.
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El problema es que, para construir uno nuevo, se requieren 5-6 años, aparte de que es necesario cumplir con una serie de rigurosas condiciones ecologistas.