On 11 July 2018, the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment published a draft revision of the Law on Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste.
The draft consists of 102 articles in 6 chapters. Compared to the current law, the draft proposes amendments on 50 articles, adding 14 new ones and deleting 4. The main amendments focus on the following:
- Prevention of second pollution during solid waste recycling and reuse in products
- Reduction of the volume of waste landfill by reducing solid waste and increasing recycling
- Strengthening the responsibility of the waste producer; establishing a solid waste discharge license system
- Extension of manufacturer’s responsibility, encouraging manufacture to improve ecodesign, establish a recycle system and promote reutilization
- Reform on solid waste import, in particular foreign waste import
- Establishing domestic waste sorting systems
- Improving hazardous waste management systems
- Stricter penalties
Public comments may be submitted online before 18 August 2018