At the Chongming Solid Waste Disposal and Comprehensive Utilization Center (the Center), the dry waste from the three islands was converted into clean electric energy here and sent to thousands of households through the power grid. The center could handle 1,000 ton dry waste every day, and the total annual power generation reached 140 million kilowatt-hours.

On the morning of February 16, a domestic waste transfer truck in the center slowly drove into the unloading hall of the domestic waste incineration power plant and dumped the full load of dry waste into the negative pressure garbage bin. In the control room of the garbage crane separated from the garbage bin by thick glass, a worker was manipulating the mechanical lifting claws to grab the garbage that had been naturally fermented for 5 to 7 days into the high-temperature incinerator for incineration and power generation. The screen at the top left of the control room showed that the pressure in the garbage bin was - 219Pa and the temperature was 11 ℃.

In the central control room, two technicians were remotely controlling the operation of incinerators, generators and other equipment according to monitoring video and real-time data. The actual situation of the garbage bin and the feed inlet and the burning incinerator could be seen on the large screen.

Shanghai Chengtou Yingzhou Domestic Waste Disposal Co., Ltd., which was responsible for the operation of the center, told that the center was constructed in two phases.The first phase was put into operation in July 2016, ending Chongming's decades of history of simply using landfill technology to dispose of waste. In October 2021, after the second phase was completed and put into operation, the center could handle 1,000 ton dry garbage every day, and the total annual power generation could reach 140 million kilowatt-hours.

According to Ren Hebao, Director of Operation, Chongming burned 377,700 ton dry garbage and generated 10,668,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2022, which could meet the daily electricity consumption of 29,000 three-person families for one year. "Last year, affected by the pandemic, the amount of domestic waste produced in the whole district decreased. If it were operated at full load, the power generation capacity of one year could provide another 10,000 three-person families with domestic electricity for one year."

There was no odor or sewage in the center. It was clean with green grass, and it looked like a garden. All this benefited from the advanced incineration power generation and environmental protection technology adopted by the company. "The garbage bin is in a negative pressure state all the time, and the odor cannot escape. Environmentally-friendly and safe plant deodorant is regularly sprayed in the unloading hall to eliminate the odor emitted when dumping garbage",Huang Ganmin, Vice General Manager, introduced that the company also had various kinds of treatment equipment. After strict treatment, the flue gas, leachate, slag and fly ash generated from garbage incineration could meet the requirements of direct discharge and could be utilized as a kind of resources. The emission indicators fully met or even exceeded the national environmental protection control requirements, and the environmental monitoring data were transmitted to the monitoring platform of the environmental protection department in real time.

It was also learned from Chongming District Environmental Sanitation Management Center that the Chongming District Solid Waste Disposal Central Zone under plan would add slag treatment facilities. At that time, the resource utilization of slag generated by incineration here would be improved to a higher level.

Domestic waste incineration power generation turns waste into resources, improves the ecological environment, provides employment opportunities for the surrounding people, and produces good economic and social benefits. "In the future, we will continue to promote the recycling, reduction and harmless treatment of solid waste, and make due contributions to promoting the construction of Chongming world-class ecological island at a high standard", says Huang Ganmin.