EconoScope | China turns trash into green growth, expands waste incineration industry overseas

(ENS) -- "China is running out of garbage!"

Recently, the topic of "hungry incinerators" has been trending on Chinese social media. Reports suggest that waste incinerators are so desperate for fuel that they're scrambling for local trash and even importing waste from abroad.

The rapid expansion of waste-to-energy incineration has played a vital role in addressing the problem of cities being overwhelmed by garbage, an issue that has plagued China for years, Liu Jianguo, a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Environment, told China News Network.

Liu noted that China's waste incineration industry is a global leader in terms of equipment, technology, and management.

As of October 2024, China has 1,010 incineration enterprises, accounting for nearly half of the global total, according to a report released by Insight and Info.

Hainan is China's first province to achieve province-wide waste-to-energy incineration. During a field visit to Sanya City, China News Network journalists observed a sealed waste storage silo at a municipal waste-to-energy plant capable of holding up to 20,000 metric tons of garbage.

Here, each metric ton of waste generates approximately 340–350 kilowatt-hours of electricity—enough to meet an average household's electricity needs for one month. In simple terms, the garbage produced by five households can be converted into electricity for one household.

Intelligent waste incineration plants have significantly enhanced China's waste treatment capacity, and green waste-to-energy practices are increasingly being adopted nationwide.

According to the 2024 China Ecological and Environmental Status Bulletin released by China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, urban household waste collection reached 262.37 million metric tons in 2024, with a harmless treatment capacity of 1.16 million metric tons per day.

This indicates that China has already surpassed its 14th Five-Year Plan target ahead of schedule. By the end of 2025, the national urban household waste incineration capacity was projected to reach around 800,000 metric tons per day.

However, China's waste treatment capacity now significantly exceeds the volume of waste collected, resulting in waste-to-energy incineration plants running below capacity.

According to the Beijing-based semi-official think tank E20 Institute, the average operating load of China's waste incineration plants is only about 60%, leaving 40% of capacity idle. Many plants have initiated a "garbage scramble," with some even excavating old waste buried in landfills 20 years ago.

In the short term, keeping incinerators running at full capacity still depends on securing additional waste to process.

Liu suggested broadening incineration to handle other types of waste, such as rural household garbage, combustible industrial scraps, and previously unmanaged organic solid waste.

Some companies have even begun seeking waste supplies overseas. Several leading enterprises have established waste-to-energy projects abroad, investing not only in Southeast Asia and Central Asia but also partnering with developed countries such as the UK and France.

The transformation of waste incineration plants from being "underfed" domestically to becoming robust exporters internationally signifies an industrial leap forward in China's ecological civilization drive. The incineration technology exported abroad encompasses not merely equipment but an entire industrial chain.

(By Gong Weiwei)