On July 3, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said that it would organize a one-month special campaign to combat environmental violations by enterprises processing and utilizing imported waste, and conduct a comprehensive investigation of Chinese enterprises processing and utilizing imported waste. At the same time, the accountability mechanism will be launched to investigate illegal and disciplinary violations such as tip-offs, shielding and connivance.

According to the reporter from China Business News, in recent years, China's import of "foreign garbage" has been repeatedly banned, and some of them are legal and some are illegal.

Nearly 50 million tons of waste are imported annually?

According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection's "2014 China Environmental Status Bulletin", 49.6 million tons of waste were actually imported throughout the year, and the four largest types of waste were waste paper, waste plastics, waste hardware (including waste hardware and electrical appliances, waste wires and cables, and waste motors) and oxide skin.

According to the data published in the Annual Report on the Prevention and Control of Solid Waste Pollution in Large and Medium-sized Cities in China in 2016, in 2015, 46.98 million tons of waste were imported, a year-on-year decrease of about 5.3%; there were 2,142 enterprises engaged in the processing and utilization of imported waste, a year-on-year decrease of about 7.6%.

However, according to the reporter of First Financial Daily, the above-mentioned nearly 50 million tons of waste "legally" imported are only official statistics. Illegal imports such as reselling licenses and smuggling are not included. It can be inferred that the amount of "foreign garbage" entering China every year is far more than this number.

According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, China implements classified management of imported solid waste, and implements an import license management system for solid waste that can be used as raw materials with low environmental risks and high resource value, such as scrap metal, waste paper, and waste plastics; the import of "foreign garbage" such as hazardous waste, domestic waste, construction waste, medical waste, and electronic waste with high environmental and health risks or low utilization value is prohibited.

In recent years, environmental protection, customs, quality inspection and other departments have taken action to crack down on the smuggling of "foreign garbage". In 2013, the customs department reported 48 companies involved in smuggling using other people's licenses, and the environmental protection department also seized 10 cases of illegal reselling of imported waste.

In 2013, China launched a special campaign to rectify imported solid waste. By June 2015, a total of 344 criminal cases of smuggling waste were filed and investigated, and 1.4575 million tons of waste plastics, waste paper and waste paint, waste slag, and waste electronic waste were verified, and 647 criminal suspects were arrested. Among them, 150 criminal cases of smuggling prohibited "foreign garbage" were involved, and 256,000 tons of electronic waste, waste slag, waste paint and waste clothing were verified. In addition, 2,215 administrative cases of solid waste smuggling were filed and investigated, and 520,000 tons of various types of waste were verified.

There are huge profits in smuggling "foreign garbage"

An expert previously told reporters: "The reason why the smuggling of "foreign garbage" is so persistent is because there are huge profits. A package of hundreds of old clothes from abroad may not be worth much, but after being smuggled into China, after sorting and sorting, each piece can be sold for tens or even hundreds of yuan." Illegal reselling of "foreign garbage" and transfer of solid waste import licenses have formed a complete "black profit chain".

In the process of "foreign garbage" treatment, the wastewater, waste gas and even some toxic substances generated also pollute the environment and harm human health.

A relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Environmental Protection told reporters that in the past two years, environmental law enforcement inspections have found that some imported waste processing and utilization enterprises are small in scale, seriously polluting, and pollution control facilities are not operating normally. Other environmental violations are more prominent, which has increased the regional environmental pollution load and caused serious environmental pollution to some areas.

On April 18, the 34th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms reviewed and approved the "Implementation Plan for Prohibiting the Entry of Foreign Waste and Promoting the Reform of the Solid Waste Import Management System", requiring the improvement of the solid waste import management system with the core of maintaining the national ecological environment security and the health of the people.

The above-mentioned person in charge of the Ministry of Environmental Protection revealed that this special action was carried out in a cross-regional and territorial cooperation manner. The Ministry of Environmental Protection has drawn 420 people from 27 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) to form 60 inspection teams, of which each team consists of 5 environmental law enforcement personnel and 2 solid waste management business backbones. The Solid Waste and Chemical Management Technology Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection has selected 30 solid waste management experts to assist. Relevant local environmental protection departments are equipped with more than 1,260 environmental law enforcement and monitoring personnel to cooperate.

By integrating environmental law enforcement, monitoring, and solid waste management forces, and comprehensively using means such as reviewing archival materials, on-site investigations, sampling monitoring, and checking enterprise ledgers, we will comprehensively investigate environmental violations by enterprises that process and utilize imported waste.

"Strictly check the relevant records of solid waste management of enterprises to check whether there are any illegal acts such as the transfer of solid waste import licenses and illegal dumping and disposal of hazardous wastes. The inspection results, penalties and rectification results will be made public and subject to public supervision." Li Ganjie, Minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said at the special action video conference held by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on the 3rd.

The special action will check three aspects

According to the reporter of China Business News, this special action will check three aspects: focus on checking whether the enterprises have relevant procedures such as environmental impact assessment approval, environmental acceptance, and pollutant discharge permits. Strictly check whether there are acts such as inconsistent approval and construction in accordance with the requirements of documents such as environmental impact assessment approval; check whether the pollution prevention and control facilities of enterprises are operating normally, whether the sewage outlets are set up in a standardized manner, whether there are any acts of illegal discharge and leakage, and whether there are any illegal acts of exceeding the emission standards of pollutants; check whether the enterprises have implemented the environmental management requirements for solid waste and hazardous waste, and check whether there are any illegal and criminal acts such as the transfer of solid waste import licenses and import of waste.

The above-mentioned person in charge of the Ministry of Environmental Protection said that a supervision notice will be issued for environmental violations found during the inspection. If the local environmental protection department fails to file a case for investigation without proper reasons, fails to implement the law, or makes slow progress, the main person in charge of the municipal people's government will be summoned for talks; if the person still delays after the interview, the accountability mechanism will be activated. Those who tip off, shield and condone illegal and disciplinary violations will be held accountable.

Previously, some experts proposed "increasing environmental taxes and raising the cost of garbage disposal to control and reduce the illegal smuggling of "foreign garbage" driven by interests", but the Ministry of Environmental Protection clearly stated that for waste imported through legal channels, if pollutant emissions occur during the waste treatment process, pollution discharge fees should be levied in accordance with the law; however, the import of waste with high hazard level and low utilization value is strictly prohibited, and the smuggling of "foreign garbage" will be resolutely cracked down, the influx of harmful waste will be cut off at the source, and China's ecological environment will be protected from the harm of "foreign garbage".

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