Shenzhen will start to charge a garbage disposal fee from the first half of this year, Chinese-language papers quoted the local pricing authorities as saying Friday.

Each household inside the special economic zone will have to pay 13.5 yuan (US$1.66) each month for garbage disposal and treatment, while businesses will pay 12.5 yuan for each ton of rubbish they produce. The latter rate is also applicable to both households and businesses in Bao'an and Longgang, according to the authorities. This move is in line with the "polluters-pay" principle, which was stipulated in a national draft rule on pollution prevention, officials said.

The fee will be collected by the water supply group.

A number of other cities have imposed the fee, which ranges between three and eight yuan.

The municipal government has for several years been considering plans to charge garbage disposal fees. A public hearing on the subject was held two years ago to set the standard charge.

Each city resident produces 1.2 kilograms of garbage each day on average, according to the latest statistics.

Garbage treatment and disposal costs are currently financed by the government.

The local government gave an assurance that the fee would not be a big burden for local firms, citing national statistics which showed the fee accounted for only 0.000073-0.2 percent of the output.

The pricing authorities said the fee would not become a financial burden for residents as it was only about 0.24 percent of their average income.

Zhu Yaohui, head of the garbage treatment center in Bao'an District, said the fee for residents inside and outside the special economic zone should be the same.

Bao'an and Longgang districts produce half of the city's total garbage, according to Zhu.

(Shenzhen Daily March 20, 2006)