"I stand up and salute you from the bottom of my heart! On the one hand, I salute the national emblem! I salute the people! On the other hand, I salute the Chairman, Vice Chairmen and Members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress! Thank you for your long-term concern, support and help for environmental protection work." On the afternoon of the 2nd, in the Great Hall of the People, Li Ganjie, Minister of Environmental Protection, stood up from his seat and bowed.

On the same day, the 30th meeting of the 12th National People's Congress Standing Committee held a joint meeting, and conducted a special inquiry in conjunction with the review of the report of the National People's Congress Standing Committee Law Enforcement Inspection Group on the implementation of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes.

Investigation on the promotion of degradable packaging in the express delivery industry

Member Lang Sheng said that in some areas and places, the phenomenon of excessive packaging of products has not been effectively curbed, and at the same time, the express delivery industry has increased packaging in large quantities, which are important sources of the current increase in solid waste.

"Last year, more than 5,000 cases of plastic restriction and excessive packaging violations were investigated and dealt with, and more than 670 production enterprises and venues were inspected." said He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission.

He Lifeng revealed that the drafting of the "Opinions on Promoting Standard Pallets to Develop Unitized Logistics" is being coordinated.

He Lifeng said that he is ready to work with relevant departments to study and adjust the "Plastic Restriction Order", and to study and formulate relevant implementation plans to take the lead in restricting the use of a series of non-degradable plastic packaging in e-commerce, express delivery, takeout and other industries, and at the same time urge local governments, especially cities, to increase their implementation efforts.

In addition, new materials will be promoted, and recyclable and degradable packaging materials with mature technology and relatively complete industrial foundation will be collected and screened, and promoted and used in fields and industries where conditions are ripe. "Research and collection are currently underway."

The express delivery volume is "estimated to be almost 40 billion pieces"

"At present, e-commerce is developing rapidly. Last year, China's express delivery volume reached 31.3 billion pieces, and this year it is expected to be almost 40 billion pieces. Sometimes a small commodity purchased may cost only a few yuan, and the packaging also costs a few yuan, which is a huge waste." said Zhong Shan, Minister of Commerce.

Zhong Shan said that consumers will be guided to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags, and e-commerce and logistics express delivery companies will be encouraged to use distribution channels to recycle and reuse discarded packaging. At the same time, e-commerce logistics standardization is carried out to promote green packaging.

Zhong Shan introduced: "This year's "Double 11" some e-commerce companies launched shared express boxes, which will be put into use in 13 cities. Shared express boxes can be reused 1,000 times, and the single cost is less than one cent. It not only saves logistics costs, but more importantly, it can protect the environment and save resources."

"Basically realize urban garbage classification in 2020"

China has been exploring garbage classification for many years, but garbage classification and reduction have not made breakthrough progress. In many cities in China, domestic garbage treatment facilities are at full load or overload, and the phenomenon of garbage siege is prominent.

"What are the overall considerations and specific measures for coordinating urban and rural domestic garbage treatment to accelerate the implementation of the garbage classification system?" Member Zhang Xingkai raised a question at the press conference.

In this regard, Wang Menghui, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that it is planned to hold an on-site meeting of pilot cities this month to strive to basically realize urban garbage classification by 2020.

Wang Menghui revealed that 46 cities were selected to carry out the garbage classification pilot since March. At present, all pilot cities have formulated plans, and 22 cities have begun to formulate relevant rules and regulations at the local legislative level.

The collection of urban garbage disposal fees will be unified in China

Member He Yehui raised questions about "the collection of urban domestic garbage".

"At present, there are widespread problems such as imperfect and incomplete domestic garbage collection systems, inconsistent collection entities, blocked collection channels, and low collection rates." He Yehui said.

Zhang Shaochun, deputy minister of the Ministry of Finance, said that in terms of domestic garbage collection, two charging models coexist, "some places use domestic garbage collection as administrative and institutional charges, and some places use it as business service charges."

Zhang Shaochun revealed that the Ministry of Finance is working with relevant departments to study and formulate China's unified urban garbage collection and use management methods, and intends to enhance the mandatory and standardized nature of the collection from a system perspective.

Difficulties in site selection and construction of waste treatment facilities

In terms of urban and rural domestic waste treatment, Beijing Youth Daily reporters learned from the scene that from 2012 to 2016, China's urban domestic waste harmless treatment capacity increased by 38.9%, and the harmless treatment rate reached 96.6%, of which the incineration rate reached 41%. The treatment rate of rural domestic waste reached about 60%.

"There are problems of imbalance and insufficiency in urban and rural waste treatment." Wang Menghui said.

He introduced that in the central and western regions, some cities and counties have not yet built or their waste treatment facilities are not up to standard. In the east and large cities, there is a contradiction between waste treatment capacity and current development needs, "the pressure is also relatively large, especially now that site selection and construction have encountered many difficulties."

He said that 40% of rural domestic waste has not been treated, "about 240,000 administrative villages."

It is understood that China will strengthen the construction of domestic waste treatment facilities in the next step. "The current preliminary consideration is to increase the proportion of domestic waste incineration treatment, and strive to reach 50% by 2020."

Wang Menghui revealed that the National Development and Reform Commission is taking the lead in formulating a three-year rural environmental improvement action plan, proposing to strive to treat 90% of rural domestic waste by 2020.

Text/Reporter Meng Yaxu

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