Experts from multiple countries visit Fuzhou Hongmiaoling to see circular economy in practice

Summary

Experts from several countries recently visited the Hongmiaoling Circular Economy Eco-Industrial Park in Fuzhou to learn about local green practices in the circular economy. Hongmiaoling is a key household waste treatment base in Fuzhou and, after years of development, has become a circular economy industrial park integrating waste-to-energy incineration, kitchen waste processing and hazardous waste disposal. During the visit, the experts toured treatment facilities across the park and learned about the entire process from waste collection and transport to resource recovery, showing interest in Fuzhou's approach to solid waste treatment and resource recycling.

The visit gave the experts a window into China's urban circular economy development experience and showcased Fuzhou's achievements in ecological civilisation and green, low-carbon development.

Commentary

The practice at Fuzhou Hongmiaoling Circular Economy Eco-Industrial Park reflects an industry trend in Chinese cities: solid waste treatment is shifting from landfill-dominated disposal to incineration for power generation and resource recovery. China's household waste incineration capacity has grown from about 230,000 tonnes per day in 2015 to more than 1 million tonnes per day in 2023, with the incineration share exceeding 70 percent, spawning listed companies such as Everbright Environment and Dynagreen Environmental. For small and medium-sized enterprises in distant New Zealand, this development is not irrelevant: China's technological advances in grate incinerators, flue gas purification and leachate treatment are influencing solid waste infrastructure standards in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and South Asia through equipment exports and the EPC model.

New Zealand's domestic solid waste management is mainly landfill-based, but the landfill levy is rising year by year, and cities such as Auckland face landfill capacity bottlenecks; some companies have begun exploring anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis technologies. China's large-scale experience in mixed waste incineration may offer opportunities for cooperation or learning for New Zealand's small and medium-sized environmental technology companies, for example in small modular incineration equipment or organic waste resource recovery. On the other hand, the centralised model of China's circular economy parks relies on high population density and intensive land use, which differs from New Zealand's sparse population and vast land, so direct transplantation may not be feasible.

More noteworthy is that fluctuations in China's demand for recycled materials, such as the shift to domestic recycling after tighter import policies on waste paper and waste plastics, may indirectly affect the export market for New Zealand recyclables. The 'urban mining' development approach demonstrated by the Hongmiaoling case suggests that New Zealand SMEs can extract local value from waste rather than relying solely on exports.

Keywords: Fuzhou Hongmiaoling, circular economy, green practice, experts from multiple countries, waste treatment, resource recovery, ecological civilisation, eco-industrial park

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Source: China News Service