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Micro and small enterprises are working together to manage waste, carbon-based fertilizers are enriching the soil in rice fields, and kitchen waste is quietly being transformed into resources… In Nanjing Lishui, the journey of “new life” for solid waste unfolds every day.

A “Waste-Free City” is a model of urban development that, guided by new development concepts of innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing, promotes green development methods and lifestyles. It continually advances the reduction and resource utilization of solid waste at the source, minimizes landfill volumes, and reduces the environmental impact of solid waste to a minimum.

In recent years, Lishui District in Nanjing has closely adhered to the construction plan for a “Waste-Free City,” systematically promoting the establishment of a solid waste resource treatment system. By constructing three major systems—centralized collection and transportation of industrial solid waste, recycling of agricultural waste, and resource treatment of kitchen waste—the district injects new momentum into its green and low-carbon development.

Small Enterprises Share Large Facilities: Industrial Solid Waste Management Breakthrough

Entering Nanjing Jingyuan Environmental Services Co., Ltd., located in the Lishui Economic Development Zone, specialized vehicles carrying hazardous waste are slowly entering the facility. As a small hazardous waste collection unit, Jingyuan Environment has built a “Smart Green Island” platform that utilizes big data collection and statistical analysis to achieve comprehensive control over the entire process of hazardous waste “generation—transfer—storage—disposal.”

“Although our company generates a small amount of hazardous waste, it comes in various types. Previously, we had to contact recycling companies from different places, and disposal prices were high. Now, with this hazardous waste collection point, we have saved a lot of trouble,” said several business leaders from Lishui. Currently, Jingyuan Environment serves 229 enterprises in Lishui District and has collected 912 tons of hazardous waste in 2024, saving over 20% in disposal costs for hazardous waste generators.

Similarly, Jiangsu Zhongtian Gongkang Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. has launched a project this year that uses cement kilns to collaboratively dispose of general solid waste, capable of processing up to 90,000 tons of industrial solid waste such as sludge and contaminated soil annually. Through high-temperature incineration technology in cement kilns, solid waste is converted into raw materials for cement production, facilitating nearby disposal and resource utilization of general industrial solid waste. It is expected to reduce the cement plant’s fuel and raw material costs by 2 million yuan per year, further enhancing the region's capacity for managing general industrial solid waste.

“A new model for the collection and transportation of hazardous waste—‘aggregating small and scattered sources for unified collection’—has realized the centralized collection, treatment, and stable emissions of industrial solid waste,” stated a relevant official from Lishui District. “This effectively addresses issues such as the large number of small waste-generating enterprises in Lishui, the diversity of hazardous waste types, difficulties in disposal, high costs, and low standardization, providing strong support for the construction of a ‘Waste-Free City.’”

Carbon-Based Fertilizers Enriching the Soil: Green Recycling of Agricultural Waste

While industrial solid waste finds its home in the “Green Island,” Lishui, an important agricultural region in Nanjing, is also actively exploring the resource utilization of agricultural waste.

In Shizhan Village, Lishui District, where rice fields resemble a green chessboard, the “zero-carbon farmland” initiative, first explored in the province, is situated here. In response to agricultural non-point source pollution from discarded straw, livestock manure, and other sources, Lishui District has implemented “carbon-based agriculture” practices in Shizhan Village in recent years. By utilizing independently developed high-temperature pyrolysis technology, straw and livestock manure are decomposed into biochar in an oxygen-deficient environment at 300°C to 800°C, which is then mixed with humus and microbial communities to produce carbon-based organic fertilizers, forming a closed-loop model of “straw carbon fixation—manure returned to the fields—nutrient cycling.”

“The micropores of the biomass charcoal in organic fertilizers can optimize soil structure, improving soil quality and reducing carbon emissions. This not only addresses waste disposal challenges but also enhances crop yield and quality, promoting the development of green circular agriculture,” said the project manager.

For non-degradable agricultural waste such as pesticide packaging, old plastic film, and discarded packaging, Lishui District has implemented unified collection and disposal. For instance, Nanjing Runli Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. follows a six-step process for the harmless disposal of the “three wastes” generated during agricultural production and use: designated collection—special storage—sorting—counting and packaging—unified transportation—designated disposal. This effectively resolves pollution issues caused by indiscriminate dumping in fields, pits, and ditches.

Focusing on Source Reduction: Empowering “Waste-Free Cells” Across the District

Focusing on the “waste” around the community, Lishui District actively promotes the harmless treatment and resource utilization of kitchen waste, striving to establish a comprehensive resource treatment system for kitchen waste across all districts.

In 2024, Lishui District's project for upgrading the kitchen waste treatment plant—“Demonstration of Full Resource Utilization of Kitchen Waste” will add two resource treatment lines: one for converting kitchen waste into black soldier fly larvae and another for producing organic fertilizer from digestate. This will significantly enhance the capacity for the final disposal of kitchen waste, allowing for the processing of an additional 730 tons of kitchen waste annually and achieving approximately 25,000 tons of resource utilization of kitchen waste while also addressing at least 100 tons of organic waste types such as agricultural waste and garden waste each year.

Alongside technological empowerment, Lishui District actively promotes a “Waste-Free Cell” cultivation project. “If we consider a city as an organism, then communities, schools, tourist areas, factories, and shopping malls are its important components—its ‘cells,’” explained a relevant official from Lishui District.

Taking advantage of key dates such as World Environment Day and National Ecology Day, Lishui District has launched extensive publicity campaigns themed around “Waste-Free Cities.” Through initiatives like “going into schools, enterprises, and communities,” over 1,200 promotional brochures and more than 200 posters have been distributed, broadly publicizing the citizens’ agreement of the “Waste-Free City,” effectively raising public awareness and participation, and fostering an atmosphere of collective construction and sharing. Currently, a total of 85 “Waste-Free Cells” have been established across the district, covering diverse scenes such as schools, factories, and rural areas.

Source: Longhu Net