Tibet gets first hazardous waste disposal center

Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region put into use its first hazardous waste disposal center on Wednesday.

It fills a gap in Tibet's ability to deal with medical waste and other hazardous waste, said Wang Junmin, deputy director of the local environmental protection bureau.

The center, China's highest such facility in terms of altitude, can process about eight tonnes of waste per day and about 3,376 tonnes annually, and required a total investment of more than 82 million yuan (about $13 million).

Located in Nyetang Township, about 15km outside the regional capital of Lhasa, it has seven workshops designed for storage, incineration, physicochemical treatment, solidification treatment, safe landfill and water treatment.

The center will treat waste under the principals of reduction, reutilization and hazard elimination by burning, burying and physical methods, said Wang.

It utilizes a modern incineration control system with precise temperature controls to minimize production of poisonous gas, he added.