Archive for July, 2012
Dirty Truth about China’s Incinerators
Originally published at China Dialogue and featured in the Guardian Environmental Network.
China’s “clean” trash-burning plants have a dark underside. Stuffed with coal, many operate like fossil-fired power stations, only more laxly governed.
Xie Yong could be called a pioneer. He is one of very few to date to sue a Chinese government agency over its unlawful refusal of requested data. His crusade for change has little to do with civic altruism, however. Xie’s struggle is personal in nature, his actions forced by desperation. He has been battling his son’s paralysis-causing epileptic seizures and mounting health care costs since 2010. His son’s condition, Xie believes, is the result of toxic emissions from an incineration plant near his home.
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中国垃圾焚烧发电：绿色背后的黑暗
Originally published in China Dialogue.
中国“清洁”的垃圾焚烧发电厂有着黑暗的另一面，这里大量烧煤，许多工厂的运作方式和化石燃料的发电厂差不多，只不过管理更松懈。
谢勇堪称为一名先锋，因为他是中国为数不多的因为政府机构拒绝提供数据而将政府告上法庭的人。然而，他要求改变现状的行动却并非出于为了公众的利他主义， 而是出于个人原因，是一种由绝望而导致的抗争。自从2010年以来，谢勇一直在为儿子的脑瘫而奔走，这种病不仅让孩子的癫痫不断发作，随之而来的医疗费用 也在不断攀升 。谢勇坚信，儿子的病症是他家附近的一家垃圾焚烧发电厂的有毒排放造成的。
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News Roundup — June
Some of the latest news from the wide world of waste: June 2012.
CHINA
- Tibet to Build First Resource Recycling Market (China Daily)
- Residents in Guangdong Say No to Garbage Incineration Plant (Global Times)
- China to Improve Ship Recycling Standards (Waste Management World)
- China Says Its Plastic Bag Ban Has Saved 4.8 Million Tonnes of Oil (Business Insider)
- Beijing Turns Garbage into Power (CRI)
- China Set to Produce Twice as much Waste as US by 2030 (Waste Management World)
US
- Vermont First State to Pass A Law Mandating Composting (Bennington Banner)
- California’s Roadmap to a 75% Recycling Rate (Waste Management World)
- What are We Throwing in the Trash? Food. Lots of Food. (Washington Post)
INTERNATIONAL
- Chennai Delegation Visits China in Search of Garbage Management Solutions (The Hindu)
- Composting Facilities Set for Nigerian State (Waste Management World)