The 10th Sanggan River International Industrial Solid Waste Comprehensive Utilization Conference is held in Shuozhou on Aug 21. [Photo provided by Chu Yao for goshanxi.com.cn] 

The 10th Sanggan River International Industrial Solid Waste Comprehensive Utilization Conference was held in Shuozhou, North China's Shanxi province, on Aug 21.

As an annual event, the conference has become a highly influential international gathering in the industry, promoting over 100 advanced and applicable technologies so far, with inked projects totaling over 100 billion yuan ($13.78 billion) in investment.

Based on the theme of the "high-value utilization of solid waste, empowering green transformation," this year's conference brought together more than 700 industry experts and representatives to discuss the comprehensive utilization of coal-based solid waste in achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals in industries such as electricity, building materials, and environmental protection.

China has a cumulative storage capacity of 60 billion metric tons of solid waste, which is growing at a rate of around 3 billion tons a year. 

According to Xu Luoyi, Party secretary of the Institute of Technical Information for the Building Materials Industry, accelerating the comprehensive utilization of solid waste is an important means to achieve low-carbon and high-quality development, as well as hit carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets.

Huang Libin, director of the energy conservation and comprehensive utilization department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that building a comprehensive utilization system for bulk solid waste will play an important role in ensuring resource supply security and maintaining ecological security. 

It will also help to raise the quantity and price of the comprehensive utilization of solid waste, and promote the adoption of fine disassembly and value-based technologies and techniques. 

Since being designated as one of the national demonstration bases for the comprehensive utilization of industrial solid waste in 2012, Shuozhou has seen the industry go from strength to strength. 

Over the past decade, the city has built three solid waste industrial parks, and formed four major industrial clusters concerning the comprehensive utilization of solid waste. 

The related products have expanded from the field of traditional building materials to more than 200 sub-varieties in seven categories, such as new materials, anti-corrosion, and thermal insulation materials.

The comprehensive utilization rate of solid waste from coal-fired power generation has increased from less than 40 percent in 2015 to 73 percent at present. In 2022, the total output value of the city's comprehensive utilization of waste reached 6 billion yuan ($825.67 million), accounting for 30 percent of the total output value of its manufacturing industry. 

Shuozhou will further strengthen its cooperation with global universities and research institutes, jointly build technology research and development platforms, boost the comprehensive utilization of solid waste industry, and make efforts to build a national demonstration base for the comprehensive utilization of industrial solid waste.