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An overview of the municipal solid waste management modes and innovations in Shanghai, China

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Abstract

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management and recycling has become an emerging issue in developing countries. Shanghai, the largest megacity in China, is well-known nationwide due to leading China’s MSW separation and recycling. Therefore, this paper introduces the Shanghai mode for MSW management and its current situation to enrich existing MSW management studies. Results show that the total generation volume of MSW and amount of MSW generation per capita were 9.00 million tons and 372.16 kg in 2017, increased approximately eight-fold and four-fold compared with the data in 1978, respectively. The MSW treatment rate reached 100% since 2014, with incineration rate increased to 48.56% in 2017. The cost of MSW management after implementing MSW sorting regulation is increased to 985 CNY/ton, including 390 CNY/ton of MSW sorting cost. Then three key features and innovative MSW management modes, namely, mandatory MSW sorting legislation, Green Account program, and the Combined Network program are introduced. Meanwhile, two main challenges are urgent to be responded, including inadequate collecting vehicles and limited wet waste treatment capacity. Finally, policy recommendations on strengthening MSW recycling process, constructing complete terminal treatment industry, and making systematic policies were provided to respond existing challenges.

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Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 71974126, and 71690241). We would also like to thank the support of Shanghai Environmental Key Lab of Environmental Data and Intelligence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, People’s Republic of China

    Shijiang Xiao, Huijuan Dong, Yong Geng, Hengyu Pan & Fei Wu

  2. Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource Recovery, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Huijuan Dong & Yong Geng

  3. School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, People’s Republic of China

    Yong Geng

  4. Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Medel-Jimenez Francisco

Authors
  1. Shijiang Xiao
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  2. Huijuan Dong
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  3. Yong Geng
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  4. Medel-Jimenez Francisco
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  5. Hengyu Pan
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  6. Fei Wu
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Correspondence to Huijuan Dong.

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Responsible editor: Ta Yeong Wu

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Xiao, S., Dong, H., Geng, Y. et al. An overview of the municipal solid waste management modes and innovations in Shanghai, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 29943–29953 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09398-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09398-5

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