General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must strengthen the comprehensive management of solid waste and accelerate the construction of 'zero-waste c The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes: "Implement the comprehensive management action for solid waste." The recently adopted Environmental Protection Code of the People's Republic of China asizes "strengthening the whole-process control of solid waste, including generation, collection, storage, transportation, utilization, and disposal." China generates over 4 billion tons of industrial solid wate annually, and the risk of environmental pollution continues to rise. Since the official launch of the pilot construction of "zero-waste cities" in 2019, the numpilot cities has continued to increase, and the intensity of industrial solid waste generation has dropped significantly; however, the focus remains primarily on end-of-pipe treatment, with most institutions operating n isolation, resulting in a lack of comprehensiveness and systematicness in governance.

The "Action Plan for Comprehensive Governance of Solid Waste" issued by the State Council (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"hina's first special document making systematic arrangements specifically for the comprehensive governance of solid waste. It provides top-level design and an action blueprint for systematically advancing the construction of "zero-waste citi," marking a shift towards cross-departmental and cross-stage collaborative governance and entering a new stage of systematic and whole-process governance. The Action Plan integrates the whole-process comprehensive governance system, ative target constraints, and the "dual carbon" goals, outlining a future blueprint for "zero-waste cities." Promoting the transformation of "zero-waste city" construction fional pilots to nationwide practice is a key step in deeply implementing the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," and it is also a specific implementation plan for the strategieployment in the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan regarding accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development and building a Beautiful China. We must deeply study and implemenping Thought on Ecological Civilization, advance whole-process comprehensive governance, and accelerate the construction of "zero-waste cities."

Taking the "Action Plan" as a blueprint, it clarifies the quantitative path for the construction of "zero-waste cities." The "" emphasizes "accelerating the construction of 'zero-waste cities'." With cities as the unit of governance, the construction of "zero-waste cities" is a cru link in the implementation of the comprehensive solid waste management philosophy. The "Action Plan" specifies action indicators for key areas such as bulk solid waste and major recyclable resources; it strengthens source reduction to promote a gradual dynamic balance between the generation and comprehensive disposal of solid waste in key industries, and implements special rectification campaigns in key sectors. The formulation of precise quantitative indicators ance timelines marks a comprehensive shift in solid waste management from past methods focusing on the end-of-pipe to a new model emphasizing systematic governance and the equal importance of source control and exig stock. The construction of "zero-waste cities" serves as a key lever for promoting the reduction, resource utilization, and harmless treatment of solid waste, and for achieving national quantitative ins. It guides cities to integrate the "zero-waste" concept into territorial spatial planning, industrial structure upgrading, and the transformation of consumption philosophies, helping to ensure that comprehensive solid wastgement truly takes root and becomes a quantifiable, accountable, and mandatory task for every city.

With comprehensive governance throughout the entire process as the core, consolidate the systemic foundation for the construction of "zero-wa." Establish a comprehensive solid waste governance system featuring source reduction, process control, end-of-pipe utilization, and harmless management throughout the entire process, and define standardized operational procedures for comprehensive governancroughout the entire life cycle. At the source end, phase out backward production capacity, promote green design, support clean production, develop prefabricated construction, and advance the green transformatioess delivery packaging to reduce the generation of various types of solid waste at the source. At the process end, achieve refined control through the industrial solid waste management ledger syst"two-network integration" of domestic waste sorting outlets and waste material recycling outlets, the "Internet   recycling" model, and the dynamic information-based supervision mechanism for transport vehicles. At the goernance end, prioritize high-value resource utilization and explore large-scale safe disposal; by enhancing end-of-pipe harmless treatment capacity, carrying out special rectification campaigns, and strengthening end-of-pipeervision and law enforcement, ensure that treatment and disposal risks are controllable. Comprehensive governance throughout the entire process shifts waste management responsibility upstream to producers and builders, suppressing incremental growth ahe source of generation; it focuses on solving the "black box" issues in the collection and transfer stages of traditional management to provide sources for subsequent comprehensive utilization; and through the precise matching utilization and harmless treatment, it uncovers economic value while strictly guarding the bottom line of environmental safety. Promoting comprehensive governance throughout the entire process enables the coordinated advancement ofon, resource utilization, and harmless treatment" within a unified management framework, fundamentally reducing environmental risks and governance costs. Comprehensive governance throughout the entire process is not a simple superpositio stages, but an optimization of institutional design that organically links all stages, providing solid systemic support for the high-quality and sustainable operation of "zero-waste cities." For exampe, the Xiong'an New Area has integrated the "zero-waste" concept into the entire process of urban construction from the planning stage, achieving waste-to-energy incineration of domestic wasteting furnace slag into recycled aggregates, and reusing all treated wastewater, thereby connecting the entire chain of source reduction, process control, and resource 

Enhance the level of resource utilization and unlock the value potential of "zero-waste city" construction. Solid waste serves as both a source ollution and a "second mine." The "Action Plan" highlights the need to "strengthen the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste," "improve the level of circular utilization le resources," and "promote the application of recycled materials." By deeply implementing the Extended Producer Responsibility system and vigorously developing the remanufacturing industry, we can facilitate the inteon of "urban mines" into the resource recycling system. The resource utilization of solid waste embodies the core values of the circular economy, emphasizing the restoration of waste materials to possess the same functionaliin materials through processes such as sorting, smelting, modification, and remanufacturing. Due to their technology-intensive nature and strict standards, circular industries can effectively foster emerging greedustries and drive innovation in low-carbon and energy-saving technologies. For instance, the Bishan District of Chongqing has advanced the full-process governance of construction waste, ed a complete recycling chain, and basically formed a network for the resource utilization of construction waste with an annual processing capacity of 200,000 tons. It produces prod as recycled permeable bricks, roadbed materials, and dry-mixed mortar, achieving a resource utilization rate of 68.23% and striving for a win-win situationin economic, ecological, and social benefits. We must accelerate the construction of a complete pathway for the comprehensive utilization of solid waste to support the development of the circular economy and new quality producforces. This will ensure that "zero-waste cities" are not merely livable environments but also value-creating entities characterized by efficient resource circulation and low-carbon development, providing new tum for high-quality development.