- •Public Policy Analysis
- •IMpa Grands exercices de cours
- •1. Introduction 99
- •The Analysis of China’s Policy of Importing Solid Waste Zhanyu Li
- •1. Introduction 99
- •1. Introduction 99
- •8. Conclusion 129
- •Introduction
- •1.1 The choice of policies and countries
- •1.2 Short history of China’s policy of waste importation
- •1.3 Short history of Germany’s policy of waste importation
- •The Political Definition of the Problem
- •2.1 China’s political definition of the problem
- •Intervention hypothesis
- •2.2 Germany’s political definition of the problem
- •Intervention Hypothesis
- •2.3 Comparative studies
- •3.1 Five constituent elements of the pap of China’s policy of waste importation
- •3.2 Five constituent elements of the pap of Germany’s policy of waste importation
- •3.3 Comparative studies
- •China’s paAs
- •The paa of licensing the domestic consignees
- •4.2 Germany’s paAs
- •4.3 Comparative studies
- •5.1 China’s aPs
- •5.2 Germany’s aPs
- •5.3 Comparative studies
- •The outputs
- •6.1 China’s output of licensing enterprises using solid waste
- •6.2 Germany’s output of written consent of shipment of waste
- •6.3 Comparative studies
- •Evaluative Statements
- •7.1 Evaluating China’s output of licensing solid waste
- •7.2 Evaluating Germany’s output of consent
- •7.3. Comparative Studies
- •Conclusion
- •References
- •The Analysis of China’s Policy
- •Of Importing Solid Waste
- •Zhanyu Li
- •Abstract
- •Research Background
- •1.1 The definition of solid waste
- •1.2. The double-edged solid waste
- •1.3. The global waste trade
- •1.4. International conventions and agreements
- •Research Rationale
- •Literature Review and Conceptual Framework
- •3.1 The literatures on solid waste
- •3.2. The literatures on China’s import of solid waste
- •3.3. Conceptual framework
- •Research questions
- •Data Collection and Methodology
- •The overall description of solid waste imported by China
- •The driving force behind China's import of solid waste
- •7.1 The imported solid waste can mitigate the domestic lack of resources.
- •7.2. The cheap labour resources in China
- •7.3. The needs arising from certain industries
- •7.4. The underdeveloped domestic collecting system
- •7.5. Low shipping costs
- •The challenges facing Chinese public authorities
- •8.1. The transferring, renting and faking of import license.
- •8.2. The waste trafficking
- •8.3. The lack of public awareness of significance of imported solid waste
- •8.4. The inadequacy of technologies, personnel and other public resources
- •8.5. The secondary environmental pollution caused by inappropriate use of
- •Imported solid waste
- •The evolution of Chinese policies of importing solid waste
- •The current regimes of regulating import of solid waste
- •10.1. The competent authorities
- •10.2. The legal framework
- •Political agenda setting
- •Policy Programming
- •12.1. Political-administrative programs
- •12.2. Political-administrative arrangements
- •12.3. The actors' games at the stage of policy programming – the example of China's Association of Plastics Processing Industry
- •Policy implementation
- •13.1. Action plans
- •13.2. The operational analysis of aPs of enclosed management zone
- •Implementation acts (outputs)
- •14.1. Operational analysis of implementation acts
- •14.2. The Game of Policy Actors at the Stage of Policy Implementation- The example of the implementation of policy of imported solid waste at Luqiao District of Taizhou City.
- •Evaluating policy effects
- •15.1. The dimensions of evaluating the policy of import of solid waste
- •15.2. Data collections
- •15.3. Other independent variants
- •Appendix I
- •References
- •Introduction
- •Causal Model
- •2.3 Comparative discussions
- •Causal hypothesis
- •Political-administrative Program (pap)
- •Mainland China
- •3.1.1 Concrete objectives
- •3.1.2 Evaluative elements
- •3.1.3 Operational elements
- •3.1.4 Paa and resources
- •3.1.5 Procedural elements
- •Hong Kong
- •3.2.1 Concrete objectives
- •3.2.2 Evaluative elements
- •3.2.3 Operational elements
- •3.2.4 Paa and resources
- •3.2.5 Procedural elements
- •3.3 Comparisons between Mainland China and Hong Kong
- •Political-administrative Arrangement (paa)
- •4.1 Mainland China
- •4.2 Hong Kong
- •4.3 Comparisons between Mainland China and Hong Kong
- •Action plan (ap)
- •5.1 Mainland China
- •5.3 Comparisons between Mainland China and Hong Kong
- •Outputs
- •Mainland China (Beijing)
- •6.1.1 Output one: Restrictions on the last digit of vehicle plate numbers
- •6.1.2 Output two: Lottery systems for new car plates
- •Hong Kong
- •6.2.1 Output one: Improvement of the interchange between private and public transport modes.
- •6.2.2 Output two: Use of Alternative Fuel Vehicles to replace Diesel Vehicles
- •6.3 Comparisons between Mainland China and Hong Kong
- •6.3.1. Strategies
- •6.3.2. Six dimensions of the analysis of the outputs
- •Evaluative statement
- •7.1 The evaluative statement in Beijing
- •7.2 The evaluative statement in Hong Kong
- •7.3 Comparative discussion
- •Conclusion
- •References
7.5. Low shipping costs
Transport costs are a possible factor for the shipment of waste. Often the price of transport has to be seen together with the price of treatment of the waste.
Furthermore, the price of transport of waste from Europe to China is rather low due to the large number of empty containers traveling back to China after delivering goods to the European market. This low transport cost is considered to be an important factor for the shipment of waste. The great number of shipments with Chinese goods importing to the United State or Europe makes it very convenient for shippers to take some waste back to China.75
The challenges facing Chinese public authorities
8.1. The transferring, renting and faking of import license.
Importing solid waste as raw materials should be approved by the environmental departments, including the type and amount of solid waste, the entry-port, the time, the importers, as well as the enterprises using solid waste. However, the illegal transferring renting and faking of licenses are common phenomena in reality. The importers and the enterprises using solid waste in reality are different from those approved by the environmental departments. Often, those enterprises using solid waste without licences are family workshop or small enterprises without adequate technologies and facilities to deal with pollutions. This will increase the risks of public authorities' management of imported solid waste.
8.2. The waste trafficking
The relatively high labour costs of treatment or disposal of waste in developed countries compared to costs in China are a strong driver for illegal shipments. In addition, facilities in the many developed countries must comply with high environmental and health standards. Therefore, wastes are often transported out of the developed countries illegally in an attempt to reduce costs. A case of illegal transport, where 1,600 tonnes of mixed household waste was intercepted on its way from England to China indicates that the privatization of the waste management sector might be a driver for illegal shipment of waste (VROM, 2006b). The waste intermediaries are paid to handle the waste, but when the cost of waste disposal is increasing in England, the intermediaries are tempted to ship the waste to China, where they can get a better price/lower cost for the waste.
According to China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (the former SEPA), 80% of the world’s recyclable electronic waste - including computers and mobile phones end up in Asia. China absorbs some 90% of this volume and is thus the largest importer of e-waste - even though such imports are banned from countries that have ratified the Basel Convention.76 This kind of solid waste prohibited for import entered China through illegal means, that is, the waste trafficking.
8.3. The lack of public awareness of significance of imported solid waste
There are some public misconceptions about importation of solid waste in China. In China's media coverage of solid waste, it is often called as "Yang Laji", which means "waste without any value from foreign countries". This would lead the public to doubt, even oppose to the importation of solid waste. Chinese public authorities should improve the public understanding of the solid waste, making them realize the double facets of solid waste, especially its significance of being valuable resources.
In the legislative aspect, there is a definition of solid waste in The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Waste (2004). In the Catalogue of Solid Waste Restricted for Import, there are 10 categories of solid waste that can be imported in China. These are waste animal and plant products; waste mineral products; metal-bearing waste arising from melting, smelting and refining of metal; silicon scrap; waste, parings and scrap of plastics; waste, parings and scrap of rubber; recovered (waste and scrap) paper and paperboard; waste textiles; metal and metal-alloy wastes (in metallic, non-dispersible form, not including powder, sludge, dust or solid waste containing hazardous liquid); mixed waste metals, compressed piece of scrap automobile, waste vessels. Enterprises should be informed of the latest changes in the Catalogue.