Waste management is an urgent challenge that requires greater public awareness and the attention of the government, says an article in Economic Daily. Excerpts:

While the mountains of waste we produce keep growing there is not enough public awareness of the need to sort and recycle and a lack of waste treatment facilities.

The recycling, re-transportation and processing of domestic waste is an important part of the infrastructure in urban areas, but waste management has been lagging far behind the country's fast urbanization. This has had a detrimental effect on people's quality of life.

To some extent, it has become a public service debt. Thankfully, this debt is likely to be paid off with the introduction of a new government outline on the processing of domestic waste in urban areas during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) period. The outline establishes the partnership of government guidance and resident participation. It stresses strengthening government responsibility, increasing fiscal input and preferential taxation policies.

It is necessary to point out that the construction of waste processing facilities should be established not only in new cities and towns, but also in older urban areas. Moreover, sorting waste should be encouraged among ordinary people as a way to increase an area's waste-processing capacity.

In the countryside, domestic waste processing should also be pushed forward as a key part of the construction of the new socialist countryside and the integration of public services in urban and rural areas.

The weak infrastructure, scattered inhabitation, and farming activities need special consideration in rural areas. But farmers' increased awareness of environmental protection and increased attention to healthy living conditions will aid waste management in rural areas.

The processing of domestic waste is an important public service, it needs both the government to increase investment and supervision and the efforts of all of us to reduce the amount of waste we produce. The government should also adopt certain economic measures to encourage people to sort their waste and recycle.

(China Daily 06/05/2012 page9)