All Chinese cities and townships will begin charging fees for garbage processing services to promote green development, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Monday.
China will charge its urban and town dwellers fees for daily garbage processing services, and the prices should be fixed to enable processing facilities to make moderate profits, the NDRC said in its proposed document soliciting public opinions. Households will be charged based on the quantity and types of their garbage.
Also, garbage processing services will be privatized and will no longer be dominated by the local government. Business entities will compete and decide on the prices through negotiation.
Fees will be charged for processing hazardous waste. Medical and industrial waste processing prices should be settled through negotiation.
China will also seek to set up paid garbage processing systems in rural areas in the future, the document said.
China is not the first country to charge fees for garbage processing. South Korean residents, for instance, have to classify the garbage themselves and pay for the trash they throw away based on its weight.
Such fees in South Korea are mainly charged in three ways: first, weighing garbage and charging fees with high-tech tags; second, purchasing pre-paid garbage bags; three, purchasing barcodes to access trash cans.
In the U.S., garbage fees vary in different states and cites. In Seattle, according to the city government website, a household has to pay $74.30 per month in 2018 for using a 64-gallon can with a weight limit of 120 pounds (54 kilograms).
