China releases information on cases of hazardous waste-related illegal activities 
From late July to early August, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment published articles on cases of hazardous waste-related illegal activities on its website in order to provide reference cases for relevant government bodies across the country to implement strict law enforcement. Two of the cases are summarized below.
Illegal hazardous waste disposal by a car dealer and a waste oil collector in Ningbo City
In March, the ecological and environmental protection general administrative law enforcement officers of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province conducted an inspection of a car dealer, and detected a large discrepancy between the amount of waste oil actually generated there and the amount listed on the manifest for hazardous waste transport. According to the inspection report, 35.5 tons and 23.22 tons of waste oil were omitted from the manifest in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Moreover, when the officers carried out an inspection of the company that had collected waste oil from the car dealer, they found that this collector didn’t implement the manifest system and the final destinations for some of its waste oil could not be confirmed.
On March 17, 2021, the Ningbo Ecology and Environment Bureau imposed a fine of 66,800 yuan (approximately $10,300) on the car dealer and waste oil collector each for the above illegal acts under the Solid Waste Environmental Pollution Control Law. This case was then transferred to the Ningbo Public Security Bureau and is under further investigation.
Illegal hazardous waste disposal by a shutter parts factory in Meishan City
In November 2020, law enforcement officers of the Ecology and Environment Bureau of Meishan City, Sichuan Province conducted an inspection of a shutter parts factory and found that it collected and disposed of waste mineral oil, waste organic solvents, etc. without qualifications required to handle hazardous waste. According to the inspection report, more than 35 tons of hazardous waste was seized there.
On November 16, 2020, the Meishan Ecology and Environment Bureau transferred the case to the city’s Public Security Bureau in accordance with a relevant legal document dealing with certain environmental crimes. Then on May 20, 2021, the People’s Procuratorate of Dongpo District, Meishan City prosecuted the factory in the People’s Court.
The full articles on the above cases (in simplified Chinese) are available at these links:
http://www.mee.gov.cn/ywdt/bgt/tb/202107/t20210728_851763.shtml
http://www.mee.gov.cn/ywdt/bgt/tb/202108/t20210803_853893.shtml
