【正文】 ols for MSWM. In China, the Law of the PR China on the Prevent of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Waste (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Solid Waste) is the main legislation specifically pertaining to solid waste management and pollution control. This law stipulates the principles of waste management, responsibilities waste supervision and administration, pollution control measures, and associated legal responsibilities. All administrative and ministerial regulations of MSWM must ply with this law.Under the law on Solid Waste, relevant administrative ministerial regulations are issued by various government agencies. Two major ministries are involved in MSWM, as stipulated in the law. The first is the Ministry of Construction (MOC), which supervises the cleaning, collection, storage, transportation, and final disposal of MSW. The second is the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MOEP), which administers and monitors the collection, treatment, and final disposal of hazardous wastes, waste trade, and secondary pollution generated by the construction and operation of MSW treatment and disposal facilities. In addition, at least four of these regulations are issued specifically for promoting mercialization of waste treatment and related services, in an attempt to transfer responsibilities from government to the private sector and to improve the effectiveness and efficiencies of MSWM.Recent national policies have also addressed waste reduction, recycling, and recovery. for example, the policies to “actively promote incineration, posting, and other prehensive utilization of MSW”, and to “establish waste separation and collection systems and continuously improve renewable resource recycling systems”. The national plan established a target rate of safe MSW disposal of 60% to be reached by 2010. The plan also encourages waste minimization and source separation, promotes mercialization and franchised operations, and aims to plete the establishment of relevant regulatory and planning systems.In addition, the central government instituted policies to promote waste reduction. For example, plastic shopping bags that were provided free in retail stores and supermarkets prior to June 1, 2008 must now be purchased by consumers. In addition to laws and regulations, there are a series of technical standards pertaining to MSWM. While progress in legislation and policies regarding MSWM in China has been substantial, practice varies across the country. Recently released regulations and policies have devoted increased attention to waste reduction and recycling under the umbrella of a circular economy, as well as to the encouragement and administration of the private sector involved in MSWM. However, in practice, safe disposal and treatment are still the focus of the municipal authorities. Waste generation and position To gain a better understanding of the current situation of MSWM in China, it is necessary to present data on waste generation and position. The World Bank (2005) estimated that MSW generation in China in 2004 reached 190 million tons, 23% more than the amount of waste published in the official statistics. The most recent official data reveal that million tons of MSW were collected and disposed of in 2006, a slight decline from to million tons in 2005 and 2004, respectively. Precise data on MSW generation in China remain elusive. Waste position can differ significantly between cities owing to differences such as climate, culture, living standards, and dietary habits. Yet, to some extent, the difference may be attributable to differences in sampling and categorization, since waste position reported in the literature for the same cities of, for example, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, differ dramatically during similar periods. At the national level, the overall trend indicates that recyclables, especially waste paper and plastics, have increased while organic wastes have decreased in the MSW stream. This trend is similar to those observed in other industrialized countries. Waste collection As a result of increasing investments in urban sanitation facilities and infrastructure, waste collection capacity and service quality have been improved considerably since the mid 1990s. The total number of waste collection and transport vehicles reached 66,200 in 2006, times higher than in 1990. Sealed pact vehicles have been employed to collect and transport bagged garbage in large cities in order to avoid additional pollution during the transportation process. Due to the dual roles of government in service delivery and administration, the efficiency and quality of services have been criticized and mercialization has been suggested. Complying with standards set by neighborhoods the MOC, private panies began to provide waste collection and street sweeping services in large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shijiazhuang.Separating waste at source is critical for waste diversion, and methods of changing the waste handling practices of residents are also an important topic of waste management research. Source separation in China is still at an early stage and has not yet been widely implemented. Informal agents remain the major collectors of recyclables, having been involved in this field since the mid 1990s when the government stopped offering the waste redemption services previously offered under the planned economy system. The number of scavengers in China is estimated to be over 2 million. Most informal agents are not under the administration of any governmental agency, resulting in many problems such as secondhand pollution, conflicts among them, and social safety concerns. Waste treatment and disposal In spite of the increase in safe disposal capacity, safe disposal rates in China have been below 55% since 2002. Safe disposal in this paper consists of land filling, incineration, posting, and recycling. These stab