China targets 76 percent urban waste recycling rate by 2030

BEIJING -- China aims to raise its urban household waste recycling utilization rate to above 76 percent by the end of 2030, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said Monday.

The announcement came as the country launched its fourth national urban household waste sorting publicity week, running from May 25 to 31. The ministry convened a national conference on urban waste sorting in Beijing on Monday.

The ministry would press ahead this year with goals of waste sorting and reduction, resource utilization and safe disposal, while refining policy frameworks, strengthening management of recyclable materials, and boosting recovery rates to support high-quality urban development and the building of a Beautiful China, said an official with the ministry.

The official said that over the past decade, the ministry had driven sustained progress in waste sorting through pilot programs and model demonstrations.

Waste sorting now covers virtually all residential communities in 297 prefecture-level cities and above. Those cities have collectively enacted 199 local regulations or rules on waste sorting and issued more than 100 technical standards.

The latest data from the ministry showed that as of the end of 2025, China had 1,137 waste incineration facilities nationwide with a combined daily processing capacity of 1.18 million tonnes. Fifteen provincial-level regions, including Beijing, Zhejiang and Shandong, have achieved zero landfilling of raw household waste, with major pollutant emission controls ranking among the world's most stringent.