Who pays for the metering and charging of food waste from catering?
Two departments have issued regulations that refer to non-residential food waste
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
□ Intern Yang Yinan
At 10:30 in the evening on July 19, a snack bar near Dingfuzhuang West Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, closed its business for the day. A man with the appearance of the shopkeeper pulled up the door, carrying a plastic bag containing half a bag of kitchen waste, and threw it away. Go to the trash can by the road.
"The food waste is metered and charged? I have seen the news, who will collect the garbage, and what is the cost?" The man rubbed his hands and left quickly without looking back.
Food waste, as the name suggests, refers to the garbage generated in residents' daily life and activities such as food processing, catering services, and unit meals.
In recent years, the total amount of food waste in my country has been increasing year by year. According to data released by relevant research institutions, the amount of food waste generated in my country in 2019 and 2020 will reach 12.75 million tons and 127.75 million tons respectively, of which the total amount of non-residential food waste Continued growth.
In order to promote the reduction of food waste at the source, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Measurement and Charges of Non-resident Food Waste Treatment" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guiding Opinions") to guide local governments. Promote the metering and charging of non-residents’ kitchen waste treatment.
A reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" recently visited and investigated and found that many restaurants currently dispose of kitchen waste relatively casually, and there is a phenomenon of littering.
The interviewed experts pointed out that the promotion of non-residents’ kitchen waste treatment metering and charging is a means of realizing waste treatment through a market-based mechanism, which can reduce pollution sources at the source and avoid waste in the catering industry.
Dispose of kitchen waste at will
Improve the collection and transportation processing system
Non-resident food waste mainly includes food residues and food processing waste generated by catering service companies, collective canteens, and farmer's markets.
Kitchen waste has high organic content and is extremely perishable. Disorderly collection and transportation will affect the appearance of the city, pollute water quality, and spread diseases.
The reporter recently visited many streets in Chaoyang District and Fengtai District of Beijing and found that many restaurants on the roadside put the garbage generated in the shop into plastic bags and discarded it directly in the open space around the shop or in the bins for recycling household garbage. Due to the hot weather , The smell nearby is unpleasant, some plastic bags are damaged, and a lot of sewage flows out.
In a skewers shop near Huayuan Zhabeili Community in Chaoyang District, the reporter noticed that when the shop was cleaning up the table, it threw food residues, napkins, and disposable chopsticks left by consumers into a trash can at the entrance of the shop. Then they were thrown into a public trash can not far away.
As for how to dispose of the garbage afterwards, the store waved his hand and said that he didn't know or care about it.
At around 10pm on July 20, the reporter came to Jianguo Road in Chaoyang District and found that there were a number of garbage bags stacked around a trash can 5 meters away from a restaurant on the street. The mouth of the bag was not tightened, and leftovers were in it. Food waste such as egg shells.
After a while, a garbage recycling worker threw the garbage into the garbage collection truck.
“At the peak of the meal, the leftover bucket is cleared every three or four hours on average. Especially in the summer when the weather is sultry and hot, there will be more cleanups.” On Majiapu West Road in Fengtai District, the reporter walked around to the “Heavy Kitchen” behind a Sichuan restaurant. ", said an employee who is cleaning up food waste.
But he didn't want to say more about the whereabouts of the garbage.
According to previous media surveys, the water content of Beijing’s non-residents’ kitchen waste is about 70%, which not only puts pressure on garbage transportation, but also increases the difficulty of environmental protection in the later stage.
Starting from July 16th, Beijing will solicit public opinions on the measurement and charging standards of non-residents’ kitchen waste.
According to Dr. Mao Da, the founder of Zero Waste in Beijing, the most important thing to solve the problem of non-resident’s kitchen waste is whether the city’s collection, transportation and treatment system can be improved, in particular, there must be specialized and qualified kitchen waste resource treatment. facility.
For example, he said that in the past, we did not do well in waste classification. Most of the government's preferential policies gave mixed waste treatment, such as incineration and landfilling. Enterprises that deal with kitchen waste were difficult to operate due to lack of support.
Therefore, supporting policies should be introduced to attract investment and support the development of enterprises that deal with food waste.
“In the past, a lot of food waste was thrown into domestic trash bins or put into farms, and there was no special collection and transportation channel. Therefore, formal collection and transportation channels must be established to eliminate irregular channels.” Mao Da said, at the same time, The implementation of metering charges needs to clarify the charging threshold and rate standards.
Over-quota progressive mark-up system
Cost or transmission consumer
It is understood that compared with other domestic waste, the cost of food waste disposal is higher.
In particular, my country's rich catering structure has resulted in the complex composition of kitchen waste and increased the difficulty of disposal.
The “Guiding Opinions” clarified that for non-residents’ kitchen waste, a sound metering and charging mechanism shall be established in accordance with the “producer pays” principle.
The relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission stated that areas with a basically complete food waste collection and transportation supervision system should implement metering and charging as soon as possible, and gradually establish an over-quota progressive price increase mechanism; other cities should achieve full coverage of food waste collection and transportation supervision as soon as possible. On this basis, the reform of the charging mechanism will be gradually advanced.
Mao Da believes that in order to implement metering and charging, we must first make clear the metering. The food waste produced by each unit should be recorded in the form of a ledger and reported to the relevant management department. The amount is clear and clear, and then the relevant standards are charged.
"Secondly, there is the issue of rates. In principle, it should be who pays and who pays more." Mao Da said that in the "Guiding Opinions" there is a fixed management fee, that is, more than the fixed amount will be paid more, which is essentially the use of The principle of leverage forces non-resident kitchen waste producers to control waste production within a reasonable range.
Many people interviewed support the reduction of waste through the metering and charging of non-residents' kitchen waste disposal.
But everyone also has questions: Will the cost be passed on to consumers after the fee is measured?
According to Cao Mingde, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, in accordance with the principle of pollution distribution, non-resident kitchen waste producers should incorporate the costs of collecting, transporting, and processing kitchen waste into the cost of products and their business operations.
Therefore, it is inevitable to transmit costs to consumers through price transmission, and it is also the responsibility of consumers.
“Actually, the real generation of non-resident kitchen waste is the individual who dines. If you want to charge the producer, the cost will inevitably be passed on to the consumer.” Mao Da said that consumers have the responsibility to dispose of the garbage they generate. Transmission can remind consumers to order meals reasonably and not to generate too much garbage.
Mao Da said that what needs to be pointed out is that the essence of system design is never to make more money from consumers, but to generate positive interactions and reduce food waste. It is also unfair for the enterprise."
In the early stage of implementation or encounter obstacles
Strengthen law enforcement and strict supervision
Beijing’s public opinion solicitation takes unit collective canteens as the first adjustment object, and implements quota management and differentiated fees: 50% below the quota standard will be charged at 200 yuan/ton; if the actual amount of garbage exceeds the quota standard, the excess part will be charged. 600 yuan/ton is calculated and collected.
"Once implemented, non-residents’ kitchen waste will enter a special unified system with strict measurement and records. Government departments will also determine the amount of payment based on the specific amount, so as to generate more, pay more, and encourage enterprises to produce less. Waste forms a virtuous circle." Mao Da said.
Cao Mingde believes that the metering and charging mechanism should be established in accordance with market-oriented standards, taking into account the costs of garbage collection, transportation and treatment, the profitability of garbage disposal companies, and the economic affordability of catering companies.
Using an over-quota progressive price increase mechanism, market-based measures can be used to reverse incentives to reduce garbage.
He also predicted that in the process of gradual establishment of an over-quota progressive price increase mechanism, some difficulties and obstacles may be encountered in the initial stage of implementation: first, the change of ideological concepts; second, the adaptation process; third, the original charging mechanism and the new charging mechanism The transition problem between convergence.
"For example, in the charging process, some non-resident garbage generators may resist, default on payment or even falsely report the amount of garbage. This requires relevant departments to take countermeasures."
Cao Mingde believes that non-resident units who refuse to pay the garbage disposal fee shall be punished in accordance with laws and regulations, and various illegal activities such as illegal dumping, transportation and disposal, non-fulfillment of registration and measurement irregularities shall be seriously investigated and dealt with.
"Effective supervision is a difficult problem. It is necessary to improve the law enforcement capacity of law enforcement agencies, but also to enrich the law enforcement resources of law enforcement agencies." Cao Mingde said that law enforcement agencies should regularly or irregularly inspect the disposal of non-residents’ kitchen waste, and pay close attention to handling behaviors. , Once non-compliance is found, it must be investigated immediately.
Mao Da believes that the most basic thing is to determine the quota and basic expenses. What kind of standard is used to establish the quota is very important.
For example, the historical generation of kitchen waste in a restaurant is very different from the general generation, and the amount of waste generated in a crayfish restaurant and a vegetarian restaurant is also very different.
"The establishment of waste disposal quotas for different types of catering may not be absolutely fair, so you need to be more cautious when setting the baseline." Mao Da said.
Actively explore and practice in many places
Do a good job of public welfare
In order to promote the reduction of waste at the source, many places have made active explorations, and have also accumulated experience for the promotion of non-resident kitchen waste treatment metering and charging, and ultimately reduction of kitchen waste.
Recently, large white boxes of 6 cubic meters have appeared in many communities in Shanghai, which can hold about 5 tons of decoration waste. The original decoration waste is generally calculated according to the area of the house. Pricing by box, car, and piece, charging by volume and settlement by actuals.
In Zhejiang, 30 communities in Tongxiang City have already used kitchen waste disposal machines to put waste in “fixed time and designated locations”, and the goal of reducing the amount of kitchen waste by 20% has been achieved.
Of course, there is still a long way to go before non-residents’ kitchen waste disposal, metering and charging, and establishing and perfecting the non-resident’s kitchen waste collection and transportation supervision system.
Cao Mingde said that whether a region's non-resident kitchen waste collection and transportation supervision system is complete, the criterion is to see the effect of specific implementation.
If the collection, transportation, and processing are all in good condition and standardized, and the competent authorities and law enforcement agencies strictly implement law enforcement supervision, it proves that the regional collection and transportation supervision system is relatively complete.
“In the past, some non-residents’ kitchen waste was collected for a fee, and it was generally sent to the farms as feed, and some were thrown directly into domestic waste, indicating that the supervision system was not in place.” Mao Da said, improving the collection and transportation supervision system The most important thing is to ensure that the special collection and transportation unit can recycle all the food waste.
“Non-resident’s kitchen waste treatment should gradually adopt market-oriented operation, corporate management, and appropriate government subsidies. Through sufficient market competition, such as public bidding, to obtain non-resident’s kitchen waste treatment qualifications, so that it can be long-term Effectively do this charity business well." Cao Mingde said.