On May 13th of this year, the launch meeting of the national "zero waste city" construction pilot was held in Shenzhen, marking the official start of the two-year "zero waste action" in 16 cities and regions. What is a 'zero waste city'? 'Waste free city' refers to a city development model that, under the new development concepts of innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing, forms a green lifestyle and development mode, thereby reducing solid waste emissions and strengthening waste resource conversion, reducing the amount of waste landfilling, and minimizing the environmental impact of solid waste. China has embarked on a new journey of building a "waste free city" through pilot projects and standards. As a populous country, China's ability to "produce" solid waste should not be underestimated. According to statistics, the weight of newly added solid waste in China reaches 10 billion tons annually. Some time ago, a garbage disposal worker mentioned in the program that in just one city, Hangzhou, the garbage generated within two to three years can fill the entire West Lake! On the one hand, China's solid waste generation is strong, and its garbage disposal capacity cannot keep up with the speed of garbage generation. On the other hand, China's utilization rate of solid waste is not high. Due to various reasons, many cities are facing the dilemma of "garbage siege". The harm of solid waste is significant, and once it overflows, our living environment will be severely damaged. Firstly, after solid waste is generated, due to its difficult to handle nature, it can often only be piled up or buried, which occupies a large amount of land and seriously restricts the sustainable use of land in China; Secondly, many toxic and harmful substances in solid waste can contaminate soil and water sources, and may also have adverse effects on human health; Once again, solid waste, as a source of pollution, can directly affect the sanitary environment and the appearance of the city. In order to strengthen the management of solid waste, enhance ecological civilization, and build a beautiful China, China is constantly exploring, and the "waste free city" is a new attempt. Of course, building a "waste free city" is a comprehensive project, so in addition to setting up pilot projects for "waste free cities", China is constantly improving solid waste treatment standards and providing policy support for solid waste management. On May 20th of this year, the ecological environment approved and released three standards, namely "Determination of Solid Waste Thermal Loss Rate by Weight Method" (HJ1024-2019), "Determination of Solid Waste Carbamate Pesticides by Column Derivative Liquid Chromatography Method" (HJ1025-2019), and "Determination of Solid Waste Carbamate Pesticides by Liquid Chromatography Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry Method" (HJ1026-2019), to supplement the solid waste treatment standard system. The trillion dollar market is about to be released, and the instrument industry needs to seize the opportunity. After the General Office of the State Council issued the "Pilot Work Plan for the Construction of 'Waste Free Cities'", some in the industry believe that the release of the plan will open up a trillion dollar market. Du Xiangwan, an academician of the CAE Member, once pointed out that building a "waste free city" has huge potential benefits. It is estimated that by 2030, the output value of solid waste classification and resource utilization in China will reach 7 trillion to 8 trillion yuan. Taking construction waste as an example, a research report on the "Solid Waste Observation" WeChat official account said that according to market estimates, by 2020, China's construction waste treatment market is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan. In the long run, it is undeniable that building a "waste free city" will promote new opportunities for industries. In this process, instruments will also receive attention as a supporting force in the solid waste management process. This can also be seen from various solid waste detection standards, such as the "Determination of Copper, Zinc, Lead, and Cadmium in Solid Waste - Atomic Absorption Spectrometric Method" (GB/T 15555.2-1995) and the "Determination of Phenolic Compounds in Solid Waste - Gas Chromatography Method" (HJ 711-2014), which clearly stipulate the use of spectral and chromatographic instruments to detect toxic and harmful components in solid waste. It can be foreseen that with the gradual deepening of solid waste management in China, there will be a peak in the procurement of related testing instruments. This is a huge development opportunity for the instrument industry, and instrument manufacturers need to seize the opportunity. Meanwhile, some experts have pointed out that the construction of a "zero waste city" is not an immediate market that can be released. It requires long-term exploration and practice, as well as cooperation from various aspects such as government, enterprises, society, technological breakthroughs, and commercial operations. Therefore, in the face of such a vast market prospect, instrument companies still need to focus on improving instrument performance, researching solid waste treatment technology, steadily advancing, and striving to enhance their core competitiveness. Building a 'waste free city' is a result of the current environmental situation in China. To build a 'waste free city' and avoid the 'garbage siege', in addition to national efforts, it is also necessary for everyone to take action, establish a green lifestyle, and reduce the generation of solid waste from the source. Defending our homeland starts with me. Source: Xinhua News Agency, Department of Ecology and Environment, "China Environment"