Guangzhou Municipal Government announced on Feb 17th that the Interim Provision of Guangzhou Urban Domestic Wastes Classification Management (hereinafter referred to as the Provisions) had been formally passed, and it applies to Panyu, Huadu, Conghua and Zengcheng districts as well as Guangzhou downtown.
The Provision represents the first governmental rule concerning classification management of urban domestic wastes in China, providing legal basis for urban management officers to monitor and execute waste classification. According to the city management committee, residents will not pay a cent for waste classification, and the specific rules on wastes classification will be published to offer residents detailed guidance on wastes classification.
Lin Qi, deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Office of Guangzhou Municipal Government, said that the Provision consists of 30 articles. According to the constitution, value in use and environmental impact of domestic wastes, Guangzhou's urban domestic wastes are categorized into recyclable waste, food and cook waste, harmful waste and other wastes.
What is notable in the Provision is that penalty rules are set for the organizations and persons who fail to throw, collect, transport and treat urban domestic wastes classifiedly. If a person doesn't classify the wastes when disposing them, he will be required to correct his behavior, or he will be fined 50 RMB; if an organization does so, it will be fined 500 RMB per cubic meter of wastes, less than one cubic meter calculated as one cubic meter.
The governments at all levels should allocate special funds for classification, technological innovation of recycle and use, and construction and maintenance of the relevant facilities of urban domestic wastes, and include these special funds in their financial budgets. In 2012, Guangzhou should set up improved wastes classification, collection and treatment system. After the Provisions is carried out for some time, the Guangzhou Municipal Government will amend it according the reality and raise it to local laws when conditions are ripe.
(Translated by Guangzhou Association of Foreign Affairs Translators)
