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NDRC calls for recycling of catering waste

By Li Jing (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-12-30 15:42

China's catering industry is producing as much as 130,000 tons of waste everyday, totaling an annual level of 50 million tons, according to statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planning agency.

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However, without a sound management mechanism or advanced treatment technologies in China, most of the waste is not properly treated, posing threats to food safety, ecology and human health.

The NDRC is cooperating with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture to work out a policy mechanism for recycling catering waste, the NDRC said in a statement on its website.

At a recent conference held in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, Beijing, Shanghai and Ningbo shared their experiences on the management, transportation and recycling of catering waste.

He Bingguang, deputy director of the Environment and Resources Department at the NDRC, urged governments at all levels to work on recycling catering waste in line with the country's Circular Economy Promotion Law, which will come into effect from Jan 1, 2009.