Anti-incinerator movement in China

The anti-incinerator movement in China refers to the series of environmental protests that have occurred in opposition to China's numerous planned and operating industrial waste incinerators. The construction of these waste-to-energy facilities, which has prompted the ensuing protest movement, operates as part of China's ongoing efforts to restructure its waste disposal system in regard to its status as the largest producer of municipal solid waste worldwide since 2004.^[1] Described by some as being a new type of NIMBY protest,^[2] the roots of the anti-incinerator movement can be traced back to the early 1990s, following the introduction of China's first generation of incinerator plants.^[3] The movement, however, began in earnest with the benchmark 2006 Liulitun protest taking place in Beijing.

Since the success of the Liulitun plant protest, in which the proposed incinerator in Beijing's Haidian district was indefinitely postponed, numerous other instances of dissent surrounding China's incinerator plants have transpired, with particularly notable examples occurring in Guangzhou, Wujiang and Panguanying.^[3][4] While the individual protests have differed in terms of participants, tactics used and government response, each has been demonstrably oriented around environmental and health concerns emanating from the pollution and potential human cost associated with operating waste-to-energy incinerators.

Despite various successes occurring for protests of this type, China's national government has continued to acknowledge incineration as a viable solution for managing municipal waste, and as such, has continued to plan and develop numerous incinerator plants throughout the country.^[5]