TIANJIN, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Customs authorities in north China's Tianjin Municipality said 14,600 tonnes of foreign solid waste and hazardous chemical substances at the Port of Tianjin have been disposed of since September.
Tianjin has been clearing solid waste at its port, a major port in China, since mid-September. Authorities said waste that failed to have been withdrawn, left uncustomed or left with no consignees, not only hinders the port's activities but also poses serious environmental risks.
To date, the action plan has seen 785 containers of solid waste and hazardous chemical substances sent off for biological treatment, while another 6,000 tonnes of "foreign solid waste" are expected to be handled in the next two months.
Tianjin Customs has launched four rounds of crackdowns on smuggled foreign waste so far this year, resulting in a total of 40 suspects getting detained and more than 3,500 tonnes of waste such as plastics, slag, cotton and yarn being seized.
For some years, China had been the world's largest importer of solid waste. Given there is growing public awareness of environmental protection, the government decided last year to phase out and completely halt such imports by the end of 2019, except for those containing resources that are not substitutable.
Although the ban has seen cases of smuggling, imports of solid waste in the first eight months of this year slumped 56.8 percent from one year earlier.
