The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Waste (Revised in 2020) (the "Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Waste") was recently adopted at the 17^th Session of the Standing Committee of the 13^th National People's Congress ("NPC") and shall take effect on September 1, 2020.

The Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Waste mandates efforts to strengthen the administration of medical waste, particularly the medical waste, generated in response to the outbreak of a serious epidemic disease, optimizes the measures aimed at prevention and control of pollution caused by domestic waste and the provisions with respect to prevention and control of pollution caused by construction waste, steps up the regulation of overpacking and plastic pollution, etc. To be more specific, the system of prevention and control of environmental pollution caused by industrial solid waste is improved by enhancing manufacturers' responsibilities and adding the systems regarding pollution discharge permission, management standing books, evaluation of comprehensive utilization of resources, etc. Additionally, it is made clear that China practices the domestic waste classification system; the system of prevention and control of environmental pollution caused by dangerous waste is refined through stipulating category-specific and level-based management, information technology-based regulatory system, and construction of regional centralized disposal facilities, for dangerous waste. Moreover, unlawful acts will result in harsh punishments and fines of a higher amount, more types of punishment will be adopted, and punishments will be imposed on liable persons; additional provisions concerning legal liability for some unlawful acts are incorporated.

(Source: http://www.xinhuanet.com)