Waste-Free Cities
Waste-free cities or zero-waste cities are not cities that have no solid waste or cities that can recycle all of their solid waste. "Waste-free cities" is an advanced idea on urban management, guided by China's new concept for innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development. Through green development model and lifestyle, people can reduce the amount of solid waste at source and recycle it to minimize the amount of landfill and the impact on the environment. This will change the traditional model characterized by massive production, massive consumption and massive emissions, and in the end realize the goals of minimizing solid waste generation, and full recycling and safe disposal of solid waste in the cities.
In December 2018, the State Council published a plan on building pilot waste-free cities. The selected cities would reform their solid waste management, develop relevant norms and standards, and summarize successful practices to be replicated in other parts of China.
In May 2019, 16 pilot cities and zones began their waste-free initiative. These are: Baotou in Inner Mongolia, Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, urban Chongqing, Guangze County in Fujian, Panjin in Liaoning, Ruijin in Jiangxi, Sanya in Hainan, Shaoxing in Zhejiang, Shenzhen in Guangdong, Tongling in Anhui, Weihai in Shandong, Xining in Qinghai, Xiongan New Area in Hebei, Xuchang in Henan, Xuzhou in Jiangsu, and China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City.
The waste-free city initiative is a move to extend reform in solid waste management, to create a waste-free society, and ultimately to build an eco-civilization and a beautiful China.
“無廢城市”建設
“無廢城市”不是指沒有固體廢物產生或固體廢物完全資源化利用的城市，而是一種先進的城市管理理念，即以創新、協調、綠色、開放、共享的新發展理念為引領，通過推動形成綠色發展方式和生活方式，持續推進固體廢物源頭減量和資源化利用，最大限度減少填埋量，將固體廢物的環境影響降至最低的城市發展模式。這一理念，旨在改變傳統的“大量生產、大量消耗、大量排放”的生產和消費模式，最終實現整個城市固體廢物產生量最小、資源化利用充分、處置安全的目標。
2018年12月，國務院辦公廳印發《“無廢城市”建設試點工作方案》，通過在試點城市深化固體廢物綜合管理改革，系統構建指標體系，總結試點經驗做法，形成一批可復制、推廣的“無廢城市”建設示范模式。2019年5月，廣東省深圳市、內蒙古自治區包頭市、安徽省銅陵市、山東省威海市、重慶市（主城區）、浙江省紹興市、海南省三亞市、河南省許昌市、江蘇省徐州市、遼寧省盤錦市、青海省西寧市，以及河北雄安新區（新區代表）、北京經濟技術開發區（開發區代表）、中新天津生態城（國際合作代表）、福建省光澤縣（縣級代表）、江西省瑞金市（縣級市代表）等共16個試點城市和地區啟動“無廢城市”建設試點工作。
“無廢城市”建設是深入落實中共中央、國務院決策部署的具體行動，建設試點是從城市整體層面深化固體廢物綜合管理改革、推動“無廢社會”建設的有力抓手，是提升生態文明、建設美麗中國的重要舉措。
