Construction and demolition waste management in China: Analysis of economic instruments for solving a growing problem

Abstract

The Chinese government has made a clear commitment to achieve a minimum of 15.5 m2 of living space per person by 2010. The consequent large quantity of construction and demolition waste (CDW) has placed great burden on the finite landfill space and environmental protection. The objectives of this paper are: a) To outline the trend of CDW generation in China; b) To indicate different actors in the waste management chain, each with their own economic objectives and constraints; c) To introduce an economic decision making model to predict economic behaviour of different actors and some of their interactions; d) To explore governmental instruments and their potential influence on waste market actors; e) To evaluate the effectiveness of some economic instruments (tax on landfill and raw materials, subsidy for recyclers and their combination). In this paper a model is presented to predict waste flows, based on an explanation of the behaviour of actors, each taking decisions based on respective cost and benefit of different disposal possibilities. Policy instruments are discussed by analyzing the feedback of actors on different instruments. A process of integrated waste strategy should be considered based on respective strength and weakness of instruments: Subsidy for fostering recycling industry→Combination to lighten financial burden by revenue of tax→Tax with comprehensive regulation system→Self-determination of recycling market.