A new technology will be used to convert garbage into construction materials, said the Baoshan District Public Sanitation Bureau and a local environmental company.

The technology, developed by Shanghai Tiannan Environmental Protection Technology Co Ltd, can convert garbage into bricks. The bricks can then be used for sidewalks or pathways in parks, according to officials.

It will be used to treat 3.5 million tons of garbage at a dump site in suburban Baoshan.

"The technology can realize 100 percent resource utilization of the waste," said Zhu Yuchao, vice office director of the Shanghai Promotion Association of Tech-transfer, which introduced the technology to the Baoshan government. "The workshop beside the dump won't cause any pollution."

Tiannan estimates that the 3.5 million tons of garbage will create 1.4 million tons of construction materials.

The company first compresses the waste and sterilizes it several times. An additive then turns the waste into bricks. The technology was patented in 2003.

At present, there are about 200 garbage dumps in Shanghai, most in suburban areas, according to the Shanghai Public Sanitation Bureau.

"Getting rid of waste has always been a problem and it's really hard to solve," said Liu Weiguang, a bureau spokesman.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, when few garbage treatment facilities existed, waste was piled up in remote places, Liu said.

As the city developed, however, garbage dumps became a headache for urban planners. Yet, the public sanitation officials face two major problems - lack of money and the technology to ensure any change won't cause new pollution, according to Liu.

The garbage dump in Baoshan - one of the biggest in the city - has troubled the sanitation bureau for years.

According to the district's plan, the site will eventually be developed into a residential and commercial area. To transport the garbage to a landfill would cost about 240 million yuan (US$30 million), according to Zhu.

"It will still cost about 200 million yuan if we use the new technology," said Zhu. "However, it won't create new pollution and will also give us construction materials."

The new technology has already passed quality control and environmental safety tests. The company also completed a trial run.

The association hopes it will be a better way to handle waste in addition to traditional methods - burning, landfill or biochemical treatment.

(Shanghai Daily August 9, 2006)