The State Council has approved the program, which aims to realize a nationwide disposal system for various dangerous forms of industrial, living, medical and radioactive waste.

China produced about 10 million tons of industrial waste, 650,000 tons of medical waste and 11,000 tons of radioactive waste in 2002.

However, China is currently lagging behind in disposing of these wastes due to long-standing ignorance and low-level supervision in such matters, as well as the absence of enough disposal centers, said Zhou Jian, a plan and finance department director of State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).

The majority of the dangerous wastes are often improperly stored or just directly discharged, which has brought serious threats to the environment and the health of citizens.

For example, only about 10 percent of the medical waste in China was handled properly in 2002, said Guo Yanhong, deputy director of the Nursing Division of the Medical Administration Department with the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, China only has 20 centers for medical waste disposal, and only 10 percent of them can handle more than 10,000 tons of waste annually, Guo told China Daily.

Moreover, many forms of medical waste, such as discarded plastic syringes, have been illegally marketed and used for manufacturing other products even including plastic water bottles in some places, Guo noted.

Every province and autonomous region will establish a disposal complex for industrial waste and a storehouse for radioactive waste. In addition, 300 cities are required to set up collection and disposal centers for medical waste.

After the program is completed, China will be capable of disposing of its annual dangerous waste stockpiles, even in the face of the massive urbanization surge in the upcoming 20 years, said Zhou.

(China Daily February 5, 2004)