The Smart-City Regulation China’s Megacities and the Take-Out Food Waste Problem
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Abstract
Consider that 26.3 million people live in Shanghai and 20 million live in Beijing as of 2019. Now consider that these 46.3 million people live within an area of approximately 23,000 km². By comparison, Canada’s population in 2019 was 37.6 million and the area of Canada is approximately 10 million km². China is on the leading edge of smart-city projects because population density gives it little choice. China must take bold steps in terms of both technology and regulation to cope with the demands for social management, which these megacities create. Accordingly, about half of the Smart City Projects globally are in China.
Many smart cities pilot projects are underway across China addressing many infrastructures and other organizational concerns. One such organizational concern is coping with the solid waste generated in cities. China produces more than 300 million tons of solid waste per year, and much of it comes from its cities.
This research project explores China's food and beverage delivery online platforms and the waste they cause. In 2019, this industry has developed rapidly, generating economic activity valued at ¥ 653.6 billion that year ($CAD 121 billion). Out of a total population of 1.4 billion, 460 million people are currently consumers of these online platforms. Most of these consumers live in China’s megacities. This consumption is not projected to decrease post-pandemic. The problem is that solid waste from this industry in 2019 weighed approximately 2.7 million tons.
This paper analyzes reasons why the online food take-out industry has caused a plastic waste surge from the perspective of China's environmental legislation, law enforcement efficiency, and recycling subsidies. At the same time, through the case study of the German Packaging Law, this paper suggested on the management and recycling of Chinese take-out packaging were put forward.
The Chinese government has issued national standards for the design and construction of smart cities. This paper explores how to use legal governance and supervision in smart city design and operation to assist in implementing environmental regulations to control the take-out waste. The take-out waste problem does not only exist in China. Almost all major cities in the world are facing this problem. China's experiences may provide a new path for the city's solid waste disposal and other environmental issues and lead the cities to explore more environmental protection possibilities.
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