Beijing plans to convert 40 percent of its rubbish into energy via incineration, as part of plans to develop new power sources and deal with landfill problems, state press said Monday. Four incinerators to be built in the capital will have the capacity to burn up to 5,000 tonnes of garbage daily when completed in five years, the Beijing News reported.
The four new plants will have the capacity to generate 1,500 megawatts of electricity, about the energy equivalent of a modest-sized nuclear power plant.
The plan was tabled at an ongoing meeting of the city's Communist Party and comes as the capital is running out of areas to bury garbage with existing landfills reaching capacity, the paper said.
In five years, 40 percent of the capital's garbage will be burned, 30 percent buried and the rest will be treated and used to make fertiliser or other renewable products, it said.
Currently the city buries about 90 percent of its garbage in landfills, it said.
The garbage burners will also be equipped with clean technology to ensure that emissions meet state requirements, the paper added.
