MoHURD releases Guideline on Promoting Construction Waste Reduction and A Guidance Manual on Construction Waste Reduction at Construction Site (Trial Version)

The Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development (MoHURD) released a new Regulation on Promoting Construction Waste Reduction to address the issue of environmental pollution and CO₂ emissions from construction waste. Construction waste accounts for over 40% of urban solid waste in China.

The revised version of China’s law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution of Solid Waste, which stipulates the reduction of construction waste, was reviewed and approved by the 17^th session of the Standing Committee of the 13^th National People’s Congress on 29^th April. In order to implement the law, MoHURD issued the Guideline on Promoting Construction Waste Reduction and The Guidance Manual, which aim at reducing construction waste and supporting the transition towards green practices in the construction industry. The following key goals are expressed in the Guideline:

1. To establish a mechanism for construction waste reduction;
2. To promote the transformation of organizational processes in construction and production;
3. To prevent and reduce the generation of construction waste at the source during the construction process;
4. To effectively reduce the construction waste discharge throughout the life cycle of the project;
5. To continue to promote sustainable development practices in the construction of urban and rural living environments.

The objective of the Regulation is to limit emissions from construction waste (excluding engineering waste soil and engineering mud) at the construction site of new buildings to 300 tons/10,000 m² by the end of 2025. Within that same time frame, emissions from construction waste for prefabricated buildings shall not exceed 200 tons/10,000 m². To this end, the regulation mentions the following measures:

1. At the planning and design stage of the project, green planning and green design should be implemented;
2. At the construction site, measures should be taken in support of source reduction of construction waste with regards to classification and storage, local disposal, life-cycle emission control, etc.

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