A Comparison of Waste Reduction Practices and the New Environmental Paradigm in Four Southern Chinese Areas

On domestic waste recycling, it was found that source separation of domestic waste in mainland China was supported by 85% of the urban population and about 11–13% of the household waste was recovered and sold by the householders for financial gains. It was also found that the lower income group tended to recover a greater portion of waste, indicating that voluntary waste recovery activities in mainland China were carried out largely due to economic reasons. Thus, the Western type of source separation program in which residents are requested to separate recyclables for the community may not be welcomed in mainland China. In Hong Kong, despite the presence of community waste recovery programs, the recovery of domestic waste is only about 6% and is therefore less than those of the mainland Chinese cities surveyed. On the choice of source separation programs, it was found that Hong Kong people ranked familiarity a more important criterion than convenience. Therefore, the collection frequency of recyclables and time and place for setting out recyclables should be as similar to those of normal waste collection as possible to attract high participation in source separation programs.     

Identifying the key factors in increasing recycling and reducing residual household waste: a case study of the Flemish region of Belgium

The competent waste authority in the Flemish region of Belgium created the 'Implementation plan household waste 2003-2007' and the 'Implementation plan sustainable management 2010-2015' to comply with EU regulation. It incorporates European and regional requirements and describes strategies, goals, actions and instruments for the collection and treatment of household waste. The central mandatory goal is to reduce and maintain the amount of residual household waste to 150 kg per capita per year between 2010-2015. In literature, a reasonable body of information has been published on the effectiveness and efficiency of a variety of policy instruments, but the information is complex, often contradictory and difficult to interpret. The objective of this paper is to identify, through the development of a binary logistic regression model, those variables of the waste collection scheme that help municipalities to reach the mandatory 150 kg goal. The model covers a number of variables for household characteristics, provision of recycling services, frequency of waste collection and charging for waste services. This paper, however, is not about waste prevention and reuse. The dataset originates from 2003. Four out of 12 variables in the model contributed significantly: income per capita, cost of residual waste collection, collection frequency and separate curbside collection of organic waste.     

成都市生活垃圾分类治理政策执行研究——基于史密斯的政策执行过程模型

以成都市生活垃圾分类治理政策为研究对象,以史密斯的政策执行过程模型为理论基础,从政策制定、执行机构、目标群体和政策环境四大要素出发,对成都市相关政策执行情况进行逐一分析.并结合成都市实际情况,从完善政策内容,增强政策执行机构的执行力,调动目标群体积极性和优化政策执行环境4个方面提出相应的意见和建议,以期为推动成都市生活...     

碳中和视域下的垃圾精细化治理：日本吸收性卫生用品回收体系的构建经验及启示

通过循环利用，减少吸收性卫生用品产量和废弃量的陡增所带来的碳排放量，将加速碳中和进程。日本提供了吸收性卫生用品回收体系构建的先行经验，即以“政府引导—企业运作—社会团体协作”为顶层架构，明确制度、完备设施、完善渠道、宣传到户等。建议我国取长补短，在夯实法律法规和优化主体协同机制的基础上，重点着眼于突破技术壁垒、推动智慧化监管、深化绿色理念，以点带面推进吸收性卫生用品的回收循环试点，进一步推动垃圾分类精细化治理的进程。     

FORUM: The Converging Dynamics of Interest Representation in Resources Management

/ The role of the public in resource management has undergone aprofound transformation over the past two decades. Public input has evolvedfrom the enthusiasm for the widespread emergence public participation in theearly 1970s, through the realization of the relative effectiveness and costsof lobbying activities in the 1980s, to the emergence of environmentaldispute resolution (EDR) as a promising new alternative for the 1990s.Throughout this changing dynamic, there has been little attention tofundamental conception. This paper addresses this lack of conceptualization.A model of convergence is proposed to explain this transformation and as thebasis for an improved understanding of effective interest representationstrategies. The defining characteristics of lobbying, public participation,and environmental dispute resolution in resources management are outlinedrelative to the publics they involve, interest activity, organization,influence on policy, participatory features, and empowerment. Knowledge ofthese aspects will further aid in the identification and implementation ofeffective strategies to interest representation on a context-specific basis.KEY WORDS: Interest representation; Public participation; Disputeresolution; Lobbying; Resource management     

建筑垃圾资源化利用项目中特许经营模式的适用和争议——基于江苏省的实践启示

特许经营模式能够较好地发挥市场化、效率化、竞争化导向作用,充分发挥市场机制在资源配置中的决定性作用,在建筑垃圾资源化利用项目中得到了一定的应用。本文在分析江苏省建筑垃圾资源化利用项目中特许经营模式的实践经验和面临问题的基础上,总结了特许经营模式典型的交易结构,从物品属性、市场逻辑、风险分担和垄断之争四个方面对存在的争议问题和观点进行辨析,提出了国家层面制定规则、科学选择运作方式、确保采购充分竞争、合理确定项目补贴、加强政府规制作用和持续优化营商环境等政策建议,以期为未来建筑垃圾资源利用推广采用特许经营模式提供参考和启示。     

政府购买垃圾分类减量促进服务实现路径研究—以广州市荔湾区西村街道为例

实现城市生活垃圾分类减量,是构建循环型社会的首要环节。针对政府中心运作模式与市场运作模式存在的弊端,认为城市生活垃圾管理,可采取政府购买社会组织垃圾分类减量促进服务模式。基于制度经济学理论与垃圾管理实践,重点探讨政府购买服务的相关主体、购买形式与运作过程,明晰社会组织与政府的职责以及确立其运作机制;最后通过广州荔湾区西村街道实践,验证其运作效果。研究表明,该模式是治理城市生活垃圾一种行之有效的模式,对破解"垃圾围城"、开发城市矿山以及推动城市生态文明建设具有重要意义。     

The costs and benefits of packaging waste management systems in Europe: the perspective of local authorities

Local authorities are generally in charge of household packaging waste management operations, particularly in countries with Green Dot schemes or similar extended producer responsibility systems. This leads to the need of establishing a system of financial transfers between the packaging industry and the local authorities (regarding the costs involved in selective collection and sorting). In the present study, the costs and benefits of recycling, from the perspective of local authorities, are compared for Portugal, Belgium and Italy (in Lombardia region), adopting the same economic–financial methodology. The results show that the industry is not paying the net cost of packaging waste management. If the savings attained by diverting packaging waste from other treatment operations are not considered, it seems that the industry should increase the financial support to local authorities. However, if the avoided costs with other treatments are considered as a benefit for local authorities, the costs are generally outweighed by the benefits, and the financial support could, therefore, be reduced.     

Life cycle assessment of waste paper management: The importance of technology data and system boundaries in assessing recycling and incineration

The significance of technical data, as well as the significance of system boundary choices, when modelling the environmental impact from recycling and incineration of waste paper has been studied by a life cycle assessment focusing on global warming potentials. The consequence of choosing a specific set of data for the reprocessing technology, the virgin paper manufacturing technology and the incineration technology, as well as the importance of the recycling rate was studied. Furthermore, the system was expanded to include forestry and to include fossil fuel energy substitution from saved biomass, in order to study the importance of the system boundary choices. For recycling, the choice of virgin paper manufacturing data is most important, but the results show that also the impacts from the reprocessing technologies fluctuate greatly. For the overall results the choice of the technology data is of importance when comparing recycling including virgin paper substitution with incineration including energy substitution. Combining an environmentally high or low performing recycling technology with an environmentally high or low performing incineration technology can give quite different results. The modelling showed that recycling of paper, from a life cycle point of view, is environmentally equal or better than incineration with energy recovery only when the recycling technology is at a high environmental performance level. However, the modelling also showed that expanding the system to include substitution of fossil fuel energy by production of energy from the saved biomass associated with recycling will give a completely different result. In this case recycling is always more beneficial than incineration, thus increased recycling is desirable. Expanding the system to include forestry was shown to have a minor effect on the results. As assessments are often performed with a set choice of data and a set recycling rate, it is questionable how useful the results from this kind of LCA are for a policy maker. The high significance of the system boundary choices stresses the importance of scientific discussion on how to best address system analysis of recycling, for paper and other recyclable materials.