"China's waste treatment actually has a high level of resource efficiency, but there is anxiety; its greenhouse gas emissions are at a leading level, yet this is not widely recognized; the treatment of household waste in low-population-density areas is still being explored, with a lack of comprehensive review; there is a gap in understanding the role of landfills, calling for urgent reform; there is demand and conditions for ex-situ landfill remediation, but a shortage of funding; the Belt and Road market is very active, and there is a need to avoid cutthroat competition."
On December 17, at the 2025 (19th) Solid Waste Strategy Forum, Xu Haiyun, Chief Engineer of the China Urban Construction Design & Research Institute, delivered a talk titled "Towards High Quality: An International Comparison and Future Strategic Pathways for China's Household Waste Treatment." From an international perspective, he compared six hot-button issues in China's waste treatment and explored them in depth.
According to the China Urban-Rural Construction Statistical Yearbook (excluding recyclables collected by waste pickers), the volume of municipal household waste transported for treatment in China's cities and counties in 2024 was 319 million tons, of which approximately 30 million tons was separated food waste. Data from the China National Resources Recycling Association shows that in 2024, the volume of waste paper recycled was 69.71 million tons, and recycled waste plastics stood at 19.5 million tons. The amount of household-source recyclables is estimated at 100 million tons. The total amount of household waste generated in 2024 (including recyclables collected by waste pickers) is estimated at 420 million tons, equivalent to 0.81 kilograms per capita per day, with a waste resource recovery rate of approximately 31%.
From an international perspective, compared with data from developed countries, China's per capita household waste generation is lower than that of Singapore-even when including recyclables collected by waste pickers, it remains lower than in Germany or the United States. In terms of resource recovery rate, China's rate of 31% already surpasses that of developed nations such as Singapore and Japan.
Xu Haiyun raised the question: since China's resource recovery rate has already exceeded that of developed countries, why is there still such significant anxiety in this area? He argued that there are marked differences in how countries compile their household waste statistics. In the United States, for example, the reported per capita household waste generation in 2018 was 2.22 kilograms per day, seemingly the highest globally. However, this figure was not based on actual weigh-ins at treatment facilities but derived through modeling, and official statistical data has not been updated since 2018.
In Germany, the reported per capita waste generation of 1.58 kilograms per day explicitly includes large quantities of garden waste and other non-daily household waste, making its statistical scope broader than that of China. For instance, according to Bavaria's 2023 solid waste report, the total volume of household waste was 6.37 million tons, with a recycling rate of 66%. Incineration plants processed 3.21 million tons, with statistical records showing 2.27 million tons of residual waste incinerated. Additionally, garden waste accounted for one-third of all recycled materials.
According to the latest 2025 research from a US consulting firm, greenhouse gas emissions from global landfills account for 4% of total emissions-making this niche sector more significant when compared to traditional high-emission industries such as steel.
Looking at greenhouse gas inventories released by the United States, Europe, and Singapore for 2022, methane emissions from US landfills constituted 17.1% of total methane emissions, equivalent to 360 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent per capita. In the EU, methane emissions from landfills accounted for 2.4% of total greenhouse gas emissions, or 160 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent per capita. In Singapore, methane emissions from landfills are zero, and total greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector account for 0.6% of the country's total emissions, primarily from medical waste incineration and wastewater treatment.
If all of China's household waste were disposed of in landfills, the resulting greenhouse gas emissions would be significant. For example, in Hong Kong, greenhouse gas emissions from landfill disposal of household waste in 2023 amounted to 2.92 million tons of CO₂ equivalent, representing 8.5% of Hong Kong's total emissions, with per capita emissions of 390 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent.
Xu Haiyun remarked that if mainland China were to adopt similar landfill-based waste disposal methods as Hong Kong, one could only imagine the scale of greenhouse gas emissions. He noted that using modern waste-to-energy incineration to replace landfilling has made a substantial contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the solid waste sector-an achievement not only worth learning from for developing countries but also for developed nations.
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