Asia's biggest solid waste treatment base goes above and beyond

With fire bursting out from two huge incinerators, the second phase of the Laogang Renewable Resource Recycling Center started operation on Friday.

The second phase of the center has eight incinerators that allow it to process about 6,000 tons of garbage daily.

Together with its first and second phases, the center is able to burn 3 million tons of garbage annually, which accounts for one-third of all household garbage generated in Shanghai a year, making it the largest garbage incineration plant in the world.

The plant can generate up to 1.5 billion kilowatt hours of power.

“If you dump all garbage generated by residents in Shanghai in one day into the Hongkou Football Stadium, it would pile up to a 21-meter-high hill,” said Wu Yuefeng, chief engineer at the center.

“But after treatment at the center, we can reduce the small hill to only 2 percent of its original weight and 1 percent of its volume.”

According to Wu, 80 percent of the work at the center is done by machines. The mainframe in the central control room monitors all processes and data.

And the Laogang center is also more environmentally friendly. The slag of the burned waste can be recycled as building material.

“Once we make sure there is no toxic heavy metal left, the slag can be used to make bricks or cement,” said Wu.

The center has built a small museum for the public to learn more about recycling and garbage sorting.

In the future, the center is considering opening part of its facilities to the public as well.

Credit: Jiang Xiaowei / SHINE

Bigger than Huangpu

The center is just a part of the Laogang solid waste base, which covers 29.5 square kilometers, even bigger than Huangpu District. It's the biggest solid waste treatment base in Asia.

Construction on the base started in 1985, and it went into operation in 1989.

Since then it has handled 77 million tons of garbage, and its daily treatment amount is 14,000 tons, a big percentage of Shanghai's 22,000 tons produced daily.

Garbage sorting will reduce the pressure on terminal treatment and cut the amount of trash produced, said Zhang Jun, operation manager of the Laogang Waste Treatment and Operation Co.

In addition, the separation of dry and wet trash will reduce the odor and percolation of waste in landfills, said Zhang.

The base takes odor free measures around the landfills, with deodorant solution applied during operation.

Gas produced there is collected and turned into natural gas.

Greenery will cover the landfill in the future.

Credit: SHINE