M.S. Thesis: Study of Policies and Regulations for Waste Management in China and Potential for Application in the U.S.
By Zhuo Hao Kevin Cheng
Advisors: Profs. Nickolas J. Themelis and A.C. (Thanos) Bourtsalas
Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering
Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science
Columbia University
May 2017
Using China’s Renewable Energy Law, other national and regional regulations, and public information programs as a baseline, this research study aims to analyze and make recommendations as to how the elements of the Chinese waste management framework and laws may be transposed to federal and state legislation for potential application in the United States. This report concludes that as economic factors and social factors shift the available of essential resource, WTE will eventually become the most economically viable option for MSW disposal. For the WTE sector to grow in the US, it is recommended that US federal and state government adopt policies presented in this report, and use China’s WTE development model as a baseline for what can be accomplished here in the US.