Current Situation and Development of Kitchen Waste Treatment in China

Abstract More than 30 million tons of kitchen wastes (KW) are produced in China every year. Approximately 80% of the collected KW has been directly utilized as feedstuff in pig farms in China, which is facing strict restrictions by China's Ministry of Agriculture due to concerns of foot and mouth disease, and raw materials for illegal extraction of hogwash oil, which is unsanitary and can cause serious illness. In addition, the universal concern on environmental protection, resource utilization and food safety has brought increasing research on KW processing technology. According to the policy perspective on promoting the recycling application and resource saving of KW, developing resource-saving and environment-friendly society as well as circular economy and protecting the ecological environment in both China (FAGAIHUANZI [2010] No. 1020) and other countries, it is required especially in China that the construction of pilot projects should be conducted overall planning and combinational optimization to enhance resource-oriented utilization and harmless treatment of three phases in KW, including oil, solid and liquid phase (FAGAIHUANZI [2010] No. 1020). Because of policy encouragement, environmental concern and economic incentives by local and central governments in China, more diverse methods after thermal pretreatment should be developed as the amount of KW production increases rapidly. Besides, basing on the increasing universal concern on safety, energy and environmental preservation, finding proper disposal methods of KW for energy production, enhancing biogas production and reducing the amount of final residue is extremely important. In this regard, this paper aims at a comprehensive study on current treatment situations of KW in China and suggests several solutions to China's KW treatment.