30 Years Worth of Garbage in Massive 9-Story Pile May Finally Be Dealt With

Posted: 08/11/2014 6:40 pm

China has enjoyed a tumultuous 30 years of progress, but with a stronger economy comes the by-product of a growing consumer society: a lot of garbage.

In Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hubei Province, the Baifo Village committee has finally decided to do something about the mountain of garbage located at Huanghe Avenue and Zhufeng Boulevard. The mountain of garbage is 30 meters high and is the result of garbage accumulated over 30 years. It’s about the same height as an eight or nine story building.

While there is now interest in finally dealing with the mound of garbage, it won’t come cheap. The government of Chang’an District and the Tangu sub-district office have calculated the cost of completely removing the garbage at RMB 30 million.

One would think nobody would want to live anywhere near this presumably stinky pile of garbage, but no protests have been reported so far. That’s in stark contrast to Guangdong, where garbage dumps have seen increasing opposition from residents.

Environmental issues have become the leading cause of social unrest in China, replacing land disputes, Bloomberg has reported. And it’s a problem that is only increasing in scope: every year as China creates more than 360 million tons of waste annually, an amount that grows by 8% each year, reported China Dialogue.