Focus on Arts and Ecology

Underground operators are transporting industrial waste from coastal provinces inland for cheap disposal or processing, reported 21st Century Business Herald. An unnamed recycling industry source told the newspaper that while legal processing of one tonne of solid waste costs between 6,000 and 8,000 yuan (US$941-1254), an illegal processing company would only charge a few hundred yuan to get rid of it.

An underground investigation by the newspaper found that a whole black market exists involving waste pickers, middlemen, and both certified and uncertified waste processing companies. With the strengthening of environmental performance in the rich, coastal provinces, many manufacturers are turning to the less developed inland provinces for cheap solutions to the waste problem, hiring drivers to transport the trash over long distances. 

One expert commented that without government subsidies, certified waste processing companies on the east coast do not have enough business to survive. He suggested that a new pricing scheme that takes into account the post-use processing costs is likely to make a difference.