Current state of sludge production, management, treatment and disposal in China

• Current state of sludge management, treatment and disposal in China was reviewed.
• Sludge production in China had an average annual growth of 13% from 2007 to 2013.
• Sludge management is poor in China.
• More than 80% of sludge was disposed by improper dumping in China in 2013.
• A priority technical route of sludge treatment and disposal in China was proposed.

Large amount of sludge has been a great trouble and raised significant concerns in China. This paper reviewed the current situation of sludge production, management, treatment and disposal in China. Total sludge production in China had an average annual growth of 13% from 2007 to 2013, and 6.25 million tons dry solids was produced in 2013. Per Capita sludge production in China is lower than that in developed countries. However, sludge management is poor in China. Administrative agents of sludge are not in accordance with each other. Laws and regulations of sludge management are incomplete and sometimes unrealistic. As to sludge treatment and disposal, many technical routes have been applied in China. Thickening, conditioning, and dewatering are three most used treatment methods, while application ratios of stabilization and drying are low in China. More than 80% of sludge is disposed by improper dumping in China. Regarding proper disposal, sanitary landfill is the commonest, followed by land application, incineration and building materials. According to the overall situation of China, “thickening-anaerobic digestion-dewatering-land application” is the priority technical route of sludge treatment and disposal. Good changes, current challenges and future perspectives of this technical route in China were analyzed and discussed in details.

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