After reducing our trash at the source and composting and recycling what can be, waste to energy is a good way to avoid landfilling while producing both heat and electricity. China is thus turning to this solution to answer its most pressing challenges.
As Grist, Fast Company and Waste Dive reported :
In 2020, the same year that San Francisco hopes to become a zero-waste city, the Chinese megacity of Shenzhen will open the world’s largest waste-to-energy plant, stretching nearly a mile across and burning 5,000 tonnes of trash every day.
But far from just solving both the waste and electricity problems that are plaguing China, the plant will also open to the public. Yes, you read that right. The Danish architects behind this project released a nifty video :
Not only this, but the plant will have a staggering 44,000 square meters of solar panels at its top to generate further electricity.
To conclude, it is worth noting that China plans to build 300 waste to energy plants – not of this size though – to tackle both waste and electricity problem. This will dramatically cut pollution as nowadays most if not all waste in the country is disposed into landfills or illegal dumps.
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