“Not Enough Waste to Burn”: A Dangerous Fallacy

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Since early June, a video titled “From a City Besieged by Waste to Not Enough Waste to Burn: China’s Speed Leaves the West Bewildered” has spread rapidly online. The notion of simply tossing unsightly rubbish into incinerators for a thorough burn, then harnessing the released energy for electricity, has left many cheering at what they see as a “perfect” technological solution.

Then, upon hearing that “incineration plants in Zhejiang and Shanghai are racing to other provinces and cities to compete for waste to burn”, some began to sigh with relief: “This news truly lets me enjoy overpackaged products without guilt; I used to feel so guilty.” It has even sparked rhetoric that reverses right and wrong, such as “It’s time to call on everyone to throw away more rubbish” or “Forget sorting your waste; just haul it all straight to the incinerators”.

Given that the misleading impact of this video continues to intensify and spread, we have invited two veterans from the fields of waste management and environmental advocacy for this episode to unpack what “not enough waste to burn” really means:

  • Is there really not enough waste to burn now? Why can’t this question be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”?
  • The video quotes Academician Du Xiangwan’s phrase “Waste is a misplaced mountain of gold and silver”. What does this actually mean? What should be the primary principle of waste management? Why is incineration considered the final resort in waste treatment?
  • Can existing incineration technologies truly prevent the formation of dioxins, along with other toxic emissions and air pollutants, during actual operation?
  • Can waste incineration replace waste sorting? Why does efficient incineration actually depend on sorting waste?
  • Reducing waste at the source shows care for both the planet and ourselves. With much single-use plastic waste coming from food packaging, do you truly understand the dangers of microplastics and plastic additives to human health?
  • How is the massive generation of waste linked to our consumer culture? Who should bear responsibility for reducing waste generation: consumers or businesses? Why might incineration actually hinder broader efforts to reduce and recycle societal waste?

Guests for this Episode

Mao Da

PhD in Environmental History, Chairman of the Shenzhen Zero Waste Environmental Public Welfare Development Centre, and initiator of the “Toxic-Free Vanguard” campaign. For over two decades, he has worked on solid waste and environmental health projects across various environmental organisations. His current focus includes sound chemical management, green transformation of e-commerce, plastic waste pollution governance, and promoting zero-waste practices.

 

 

 

Sun Jinghua

Nature name “Lianpeng” (Lotus Pod), Director of the Waste Reduction Project at Friends of Nature, and editor-in-chief of the popular science book *The Magic Book of Waste*. She has spent years conducting outreach, education, and science communication in waste reduction, sorting, and campus zero-waste initiatives.

 

 

 

Yu Yang

Editor at Foodthink, recently exploring the toxic relationship between plastics and humans.

 

 

 

 

Host for this Episode

Tian Le

Co-ordinator for the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market, and founding editor at Foodthink.

 

 

 

 

Timestamps

01:00After years of promoting waste reduction and sorting, how do you feel seeing that short video claiming “there’s not enough rubbish to burn”?

07:01 The “satisfying” appeal of waste incineration and what it reveals about our growing impatience with rubbish

08:51 Why incineration ought to be the very last resort in waste management

14:21 Can real-time monitoring guarantee that incinerators completely eliminate dioxin emissions?

18:09 Why has China constructed such a large number of waste incineration plants?

20:33 Are glass bottles that can’t be incinerated still collected by manufacturers for recycling, just as they were in our childhood?

33:33 Phthalate plasticisers in plastic packaging function as synthetic oestrogens

37:44 When ordering food delivery and explicitly selecting “no disposable cutlery”, why do restaurants still insist on including it?

49:55 How overcapacity in waste incineration drives down economic disposal costs, while the hidden social costs fall on all of us

55:40 Creative ideas to encourage businesses to cut down on or recycle single-use plastic packaging

59:45 How to connect waste reduction and recycling with your own daily routine

Waste has become an issue that China must confront and manage as it undergoes modernisation and urbanisation. The shock and fear once sparked by cities being besieged by rubbish have driven a desire for rapid, highly efficient solutions to the waste problem. Image source: Still from the documentary *Garbage Siege*
Large quantities of waste carelessly discarded by people spread across mountains and rivers, and can also make their way up the food chain to return to our dinner tables, ultimately ending up in our bodies. Image source: Mao Da
The hierarchy of waste management approaches. Image source: Mao Da
Distribution of waste-to-energy plants across various regions of China. Data indicates that as of 2023, China has constructed over 1,000 waste incineration power plants, housing 2,172 incinerators with a daily processing capacity of roughly 1.11 million tonnes. This expansion means China’s waste incineration volume now far surpasses the combined total of the United States, Japan, and Europe. Image source: Public Disclosure Platform for Automatic Monitoring Data of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Power Plants
Potential pollutants produced by waste incineration. Image source: Tianxia Wufen
Takeaway packaging waste, ubiquitous in everyday life. Image source: Foodthink
An array of fruits and vegetables in fresh grocery stores, frequently clad in excessive plastic packaging. Image source: Foodthink
A supermarket collecting shopping bags voluntarily donated by customers for others to take for free. Image source: Wu Xiaowai
To encourage a reduction in single-use plastic packaging, the Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market has established a “bulk goods section” where shoppers must bring their own containers. Image source: Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market
The “Postman Slow Delivery” initiative aims to create a circular platform that encourages the flow of second-hand bags among people. Image source: Free U Nature

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Podcast music: Banong

Produced by: Xiaoputao

Concept & Planning: Tianle

Edited by: Yuyang

Contact email: xiaojing@foodthink.cn

Published by Foodthink