A trash-fueled power plant was put into operation Monday in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and will handle one third of the garbage produced in the Municipality everyday.
   
Chongqing Tongxing Trash Burning Power Plant, the first of its kind in the country's southwestern region, will consume 1,200 tons of trash everyday and generate about 80 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
   
The new plant was jointly invested in by six enterprises including Chongqing Iron and Steel Group and China Environmental Protection Company in the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) framework.
   
According to Tang Minwei, board chairman of the Chongqing Iron and Steel Group, the power plant was designed to meet not only the national waste emission standard but also fit in the European system in this regard.
   
According to a previous contract, the power plant will be operated by the investors for 25 years before being returned to the local government. During the 25-year franchised period, the local government will pay 69.9 yuan (US$8.5) to the plant for processing one ton of garbage.
   
Total investment in the plant amounts to 450 million yuan (US$54.3million).
   
Meanwhile, local experts worry that the plant may experience difficulties in receiving garbage that has been properly processed due to the underdeveloped capability of local environmental sanitation departments in handling and sorting trash.

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2005)