Each Guangzhou family already pays 10 yuan (82 US cents) every month for rubbish collection and public sanitation.

The new charge is mainly to support the operation of rubbish processing projects and to finance new projects, said Liang Jiazhi, head of the environment and sanitation department in the municipal government.

The local government pays about 130 million yuan (US$16 million) annually for rubbish processing, all from the government budget.

The administration expects to collect about 140 million yuan every year after the new charge is imposed, which will just replace the government investment.

The city produces 5,300 to 5,600 tons of rubbish every day and the amount increases by six percent annually. Two major rubbish disposal grounds in the city now meet the demand, but will have been filled and closed by the end of this year.

Because the present disposal methods are not environmentally-friendly, the city government is eager to build a new and advanced rubbish disposal infrastructure.

According to the government, five new waste disposal projects will have been completed by 2005 allowing the city to dispose of 6,200 tons of rubbish every day. Private companies will invest 1.14 billion yuan and the government will contribute 1.26 billion yuan.

To maintain the operation of the five projects will cost 110 million yuan annually, and the money would come from the new charge.

Liang hoped the charging policy would also improve public awareness of environmental protection in a bid to produce less rubbish.

Guangzhou is one of eight cities in China that classify waste. The city sorts rubbish into three groups: recyclable, non-recyclable, and dangerous and poisonous. About 40 percent of the rubbish collected from homes is classified, while 20 percent of waste is recycled.

The city pioneered the introduction of private enterprises into the sanitation sector, which used to be operated by the government.

There are more than 300 companies qualified in Guangzhou to provide services such as cleaning roads, water supply, and public toilet operation, as well as collecting and disposing of rubbish. Some of them employ more than 1,000 people each.

Several foreign companies have been involved in the city's large rubbish disposal infrastructure projects as well. A large waste disposal ground currently under construction was designed by a French-based environmental protection company.

The government expected the waste disposal department would eventually be separated from the administration and become a profitable business, Liang said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2002)