solid waste management(hohhot municiple government

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City Paper
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
HOHHOT MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
Hohhot is the capital and political, economic, and cultural center
of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It is also a national
historical and cultural city and an important transportation
hub of the northern border of the People’s Republic of China.
Hohhot covers four districts and five counties with a total
population of 2.044 million and a total area of 17,224 km2. The
urban area is 85 km2 (including
Ruyi Development Zone,
Jinchuan Development Zone,
and the Petrochemical Zone) and
home to about 710,000 people of
35 nationalities, including Mongolian,
Han, Hui, and Manchu.
Hohhot’s major industries
are electric power, textiles, petrochemicals,
machinery, food
processing, transportation, communications,
and tourism. Its
gross domestic product (GDP) was Y14.3 billion in 1998. It generated
Y1.73 billion in municipal revenue. Its GDP per capita is Y6,875.
Its links with the international community are expanding; it hosts
714 small and medium-sized foreign and joint ventures and foreign
investments worth $102 million. Hohhot is also strengthening its
links with inland developed areas, with 2,071 cooperation projects
and Y2,530 million in investments.
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Continuous economic progress and reform have restructured
the job market. At end-1998, 559,000 people were employed in the
urban area, 351,000 of them in State-owned enterprises. In that
year, 68,000 employees in the State-owned enterprises were laid
off, but 43,000 (63.2 percent) were re-employed.
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
After the City Planning Act was passed in 1990, Hohhot issued its
own City Planning Regulations in 1993 and prepared its city and
township system plans, district plans, and detailed structure plans.
The State Council approved Hohhot’s revised master plan (1996-
2010) in 1999.
The administrative departments for planning, environment,
landscape, sanitation, drainage, utilities, civil engineering, and urban
management coordinate with each other under the municipal
government.
At end-1998, urban land area was 86.2 km2, including 23.6
km2 for residences, 16.6 km2 for industries, 16.3 km2 for public facilities,
6.3 km2 for squares and roads, 5.9 km2 for warehouses, 3.7
km2 for external transport, 3.7 km2 for utilities, 4.6 km2 for parks,
and 5.6 km2 for special use.
Hohhot suffers from severe air pollution, especially from December
to February, when buildings have to be heated. The daily
average amount of general suspended particulates and sulfur dioxide
was 423/461 gamma/m3 and 102/63 gamma/m3, making the
municipality a major sulfur dioxide control area. Air pollution is
caused mainly by the burning of coal, which is the major source of
energy. Within the 80-km2 built-up area, there are more than 2,000
boilers that consume more than 40,000 tons of coal per km2.
The Dahei, Xiaohei, and Xi rivers are the main bodies of surface
water in Hohhot. Because Hohhot is located in a semi-arid
mid-temperate zone, precipitation and surface run-off are too low
to dilute, purify, and conduct pollutants. Along with urban socioeconomic
development, the volume of domestic and industrial sew131
Solid Waste Management
age has been increasing year after year. The lack of treatment facilities,
however, has resulted in surface water pollution, which urgently
needs to be controlled. Although the deep groundwater is still pure,
it risks contamination from polluted wells and shallow groundwater.
Urban infrastructure has made notable progress. By end-1998,
seven water supply plants and 372 km of service pipes had been
constructed, with a daily supply capacity of 242,000 tons and serving
about 90 percent of the population; 402 km of drainpipes and
a sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 100,000 tons/day had
been built, bringing the treatment rate up to 27.7 percent. Housing
floor space had reached 14.33 million m2, with 7.63 million m2 of
actual living space (8.46 m2 per capita); 114.4 km of heating pipelines
had been built to combine centralized and associated heating
systems, raising the centralized-heating rate to 44.12 percent. Daily
coal gas productivity reached 164,000 m3 and daily gas storage capacity
grew to 150,000 m3, with 308 km of pipelines and 250,000
consumers. LPG supply reached 6,006 tons, with 149,000 consumers;
total gas consumption rate was 58.31 percent.
Hohhot sits on the edge of the alluvial area at the southern
foot of the Daqing Mountains. Flooding due to surface runoff from
the mountains is a serious problem. Flood control is guided by three
principles: store floodwater when possible, and, when necessary,
let it flow or discharge it. The municipal government therefore combines
engineering and non-engineering measures to integrate
antiflood planning, dredging the watercourses, building embankments
and reservoirs, preparing flooding emergency schemes, organizing
emergency squads, and reserving emergency materials.
Hohhot is fairly well linked up with highways, railroads, and
airlines. It has 389 km of urban roads and 3,114 km of highways.
By end-1998, it had 68,000 motor vehicles, including 301 public
buses with 288 km of service lines. Jingbao Railroad, a national
railroad crossing the urban area, carried 2.79 million passengers and
2.23 million tons of cargo. The Baita airport has 11 airlines flying
to 12 cities, and its annual throughput is 351,804 person-hours.
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SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Hohhot’s solid waste is mainly made up of industrial solid waste,
urban domestic waste, excrement, and medical waste.
Industrial Solid Waste
Hohhot has more than 800 factories. A 1993 survey of 149
enterprises shows the following:
• The major solid waste polluters are the electric power and
metallurgy industries. They generate 50.3 percent of total
solid waste, which takes up 99.1 percent of storage space.
• The major pollutants are coal ash, smelter residue, and slag,
mainly from the boilers used in manufacturing and heating.
Slag is produced mainly by the Hohhot Ironworks, while
coal ash comes mainly from the Hohhot Thermoelectricity
Plant. Both are extremely expensive to control. Coal ash
does not undergo integrated utilization, resulting in the problem
of long-term stacking, made worse by the fact that it
occupies a great deal of space and is a possible source of
water and air pollution. Most (95 percent) of the smelter
residue, however, undergoes integrated utilization, and is
therefore less of a threat to the environment.
• Most industrial solid waste in Hohhot is nontoxic and nonradioactive,
but the problem is how to reduce the amount
so that it occupies less space. Accumulated industrial solid
waste is now 700,000 tons, occupying 690,000 m2 of land.
The integrated utilization rate is 46.88 percent. Agencies
managing industrial solid waste are guided by the principle
that polluting enterprises are responsible for controlling their
own pollution.
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Solid Waste Management
Domestic Waste
Along with urban population growth, the amount of domestic
waste has been increasing continuously. In 1998, 477,000 tons
of domestic waste were generated (1,300-1,400 tons/day). Waste
construction materials accounted for an additional 800-1,000 tons/
day. Night soil production was 62,000 tons for the year. A 200,000-
m2 integrated waste disposal plant located 7.5 km away from the
urban area performs six tasks: hygienic stacking and filling; hightemperature
composting; night soil anaerobic fermenting; incineration;
integrated utilization; and logistics. It has a stacking and filling
capacity of 750 tons/day, a night soil anaerobic fermenting capacity
of 200 tons/day, and an incineration capacity of 6 tons/day.
However, composting, anaerobic fermenting of night soil, and incineration
are insufficient due to a shortage of funds. A large amount
of urban refuse is still simply stacked in suburban low-lying ground,
severely threatening air and water quality.
Facilities for urban waste collection and transportation are inadequate.
Waste is collected through containers, ground collection
stations, and clearing stations. There are 967 collection stations, 96
containers, 400 garbage boxes, 28 obturated clearing stations, and
142 sanitation vehicles in the city. But classified collection is not yet
well developed and the technology for collecting and transporting
waste is relatively primitive.
Medical Waste
Hohhot has over 500 medical facilities, of which 32 are at or
above the district level. Each year, approximately 11,000 tons of
hazardous hospital waste must be disposed of. However, only a few
large hospitals have normal or simple incinerators, and of limited
capacity. Most medical waste is discharged along with domestic
waste, contaminating the environment and seriously threatening
people’s health.
The major problems of solid waste management are the
following:
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• Due to lack of funds, urban infrastructure is weak, resulting
in more solid waste accumulation year after year.
• Industrial solid waste and medical waste have not been integrated
into urban management.
STRATEGIES FOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Development Strategy
DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES
By 2010, Hohhot is expected to become a modern, economically
vibrant city, with a rational industrial structure, advanced technology
and education, a complete social security system, much improved
infrastructure, a well-thought-out layout, convenient and
safe transportation, a pleasant environment, and a culture and tradition
that the people treasure.
ECONOMIC TARGETS
By 2010, it is expected that Hohhot will have a modern, open
economy with a strong agricultural base, high technology, and flourishing
industry. It should have an improved market system supported
by the pillar industries of commerce and trade, finance, insurance,
real estate, transportation, communications, and tourism.
The leading industries—electricity, wool spinning, electronics, machinery,
petrochemicals, and food—will be reformed. The production
of grain and crops will be stabilized. Vegetable, marine, and
animal production will be increased.
DEVELOPMENT TARGETS
By 2010, living standards will be much higher, with a greatly
improved environment and quality of life. Urban land use will be
rationalized to enable coordinated development. Better services will
foster a pleasant and much more open investment atmosphere. A
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modern and multilayered public facility system will serve Hohhot’s
residents.
Solid Waste Management Development Plan
The international trend is toward urban solid waste disposal
that is environment friendly and resource oriented. Research methods
and disposal technology are improving constantly. Solid waste
control and a reorientation toward resource management have become
the key objectives of urban pollution control. However,
Hohhot is plagued by problems related to finance, technology, and
control measures. The annual rate of increase in urban solid waste
is 5 percent. The municipal government has prepared a plan to
control and solve the problems of solid waste contamination, and
has installed or approved some pollution control facilities.
INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE
Industrial solid waste management is still guided by the principle
that the polluting enterprises are responsible for controlling
their own pollution under government supervision. Although some
waste undergoes integrated utilization, most of it is disposed of by
stacking. It has been found that coal ash and smelter residue can be
used for building and road construction; slag can be used as an
insulation material. The municipal government should issue regulations
and lay down policies that will promote the integrated utilization
of these materials, which make up most of industrial solid
waste.
URBAN REFUSE
Waste disposal in the PRC focuses on hygienic stacking and
filling, high-temperature composting, incineration, and integrated
utilization. The municipal government should focus on promoting
integrated utilization technology. Classified collection, transportation,
and disposal will be gradually adopted.
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W ASTE FROM COAL BURNING
The amount of solid waste generated may be reduced by 30
to 50 percent by shifting to centralized or electric heating and gas
for home use. The second phase of the urban centralized heating
project, gas project, and electric network reform project is underway.
The natural gas project is awaiting approval. The Hohhot Thermoelectricity
Plant is expanding its 2 x 200,000-kilowatt electric
generator set. The associated urban pipeline project is also listed in
the municipality’s plan.
CLASSIFIED COLLECTION
Classified collection is a common waste management method
in developed countries, allowing a recycling rate of 80-90 percent.
However, environment consciousness among Hohhot residents is
relatively low. The municipal government has issued regulations such
as the Citizens’ Pact and uses the mass media to raise citizens’ consciousness
and to promote the garbage-in-bag policy in some residential
areas.
CLEAN VEGETABLES AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROCESSING INDUSTRY
Waste vegetable matter accounts for 10 percent of the total
amount of urban refuse; 20-30 percent of vegetables are thrown
out during the harvest season. Selling only clean vegetables in the
cities and developing the processing industry will reduce vegetable
waste by 50 percent.
FUNDING OF WASTE COLLECTION, TRANSPORTATION, AND DISPOSAL
Allotting more money to waste management will permanently
solve the problem of urban waste, as it will expedite infrastructure
development. Funds can be raised from the municipal budget, the
central Government, autonomous region agencies, and foreign
investment.
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Solid Waste Management
An integrated waste disposal plant in the western suburbs
funded jointly by the central Government, autonomous region authorities,
and the municipal government has been operating successfully
since 1995. In the eastern suburbs, another integrated
waste disposal plant costing Y94 million has passed the feasibilitystudy
stage. It is designed to handle 750 tons of domestic waste per
day, 1,000 tons of building waste material, and 40 tons of medical
waste. Funding comes from the central Government, local finance,
a development bank, and the Asian Development Bank. When the
plant starts operating, all the urban domestic waste and medical
waste in Hohhot will be rendered harmless.
Hohhot lags far behind developed cities in terms of integrated
disposal technologies and control measures. We welcome any expert
criticism and instruction. We also welcome investors to participate
in infrastructure development.
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