A large-scale garbage burning plant is expected to start operation next year in Beijing to improve the city's rubbish processing capacity.

The facility, the first of its kind dealing with garbage by means of burning in the Chinese capital, has a designed daily processing capacity of 1,000 tons to 1,200 tons, said Chen Wenzhan, a deputy the National People's Congress (NPC).

In addition to the plant located in the Chaoyang District, three other burning facilities are scheduled to be set up in other parts of the city around 2010, according to Chen., also an official in charge of Beijing's urban construction.

The four plants, which will adopt combined garbage processing methods, are expected to free the national capital from sole dependence on burying garbage, which engulfed up to 40 hectares of land annually, Chen said.

The plants, to be equipped with advanced pollution-free technologies that match up to the international standards, will have no threat to the environment, Chen promised, adding that the government has poured some 200 million yuan (US$25 million) in equipping the Chaoyang-based facility with German technologies to clean up the waste discharge.

(XInhua News Agency March 10, 2006)