China’s Plan to Deal With Its Trash by Burning It Provokes a Public Backlash

China’s Plan to Deal With Its Trash by Burning It Provokes a Public Backlash
Smoke rises from a garbage incineration plant in Wuhan, China, Jan. 9, 2015 (Photo by Dong Mu for Imaginechina via AP Images).

Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, WPR Newsletter and Engagement Editor Benjamin Wilhelm curates the week’s top news and expert analysis on China.

The central Chinese city of Wuhan put a garbage-burning power plant on hold this week after days of protests against the project. Following a police crackdown, local officials, apparently caught off guard by the protests, have pledged to consult with residents before moving forward. The demonstrations highlight the recurring failure of local authorities in China to provide transparency and address safety and environmental concerns over government projects.

Waste-to-energy incineration plants like the one proposed in Wuhan are especially controversial. They are seen by authorities as necessary to manage China’s massive and growing solid waste problem, but opponents fear they will produce toxic emissions and contaminate the environment. Incinerators in other parts of China, as well as in Wuhan, have sparked demonstrations in recent years, some of which turned violent.

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