About 100 global environmental experts from countries including China, Japan, Germany and the Republic of Korea gathered here Friday to discuss ways to handle solid waste.
A total of 53 papers have been presented to the three-day seminar in southeast China's Fujian Province, which is themed "new technology for combustion of solid waste and purification of its smoke."
Treatment of rubbish discharged by urban residents and other solid waste has been a global problem and an issue looming large in China as its accumulated untreated solid waste has reached 7 billion tons.
Chinese experts said at the seminar that China produces about 150 million tons of solid waste each year, which is growing at an annual rate of 9 percent.
However, because of limited processing facilities, only 21 percent of solid waste discharged in urban China was rendered harmless in 2000.
The seminar is being held by the Chinese Society of Environmental Science in cooperation with the Fujian Fengquan Environmental Protection Co., Ltd.
(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2002)
