China to amend solid waste pollution prevention law ( 2003-12-28 10:57) (Xinhua)
The sixth session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's
Congress (NPC) Saturday approved a proposal submitted by the NPC's Environment
and Resources Protection Committee on amending the solid waste pollution
prevention law.
The NPC's Environment and Resources Protection Committee holds the view that
electronic waste pollution has turned out to be a serious problem in China,
along with the country's high-gear economic development and the more frequent
use of electronic products.
The committee predicts that a total of 14 million TV sets, computers, washing
machines and refrigerators, as well as other kinds of household appliances, will
be discarded annually in the coming years nationwide.
Household electrical appliances often contain environmentally-unfriendly
materials. If abandoned household appliances are directly buried or burned, the
air, soil or water may be severely polluted.
On the recycling of waste industrial products, including waste electronic
products, the Standing Committee of the 9th NPC promulgated a law in 2002,
requiring compulsory retrieval of used industrial products.
The Standing Committee of the 10th NPC will regulate the disposal methods of
some new types of solid waste through amending the current law on the prevention
of solid waste pollution.
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