Solving the garbage-surrounded-village problem requires a multi-pronged approach

Recently, media reports said that in some places in Shaanxi, "garbage mountains" are constantly spreading toward farmland, household waste is dumped and piled up at will, and plastic bags and broken liquor bottles are scattered across wheat fields. Data show that rural areas in China produce 120 million tons of garbage each year, and among the nearly 600,000 administrative villages nationwide, many still remain in the "original ecological" state of simply piling up garbage. Compared with the garbage crisis faced by cities, the similar situation in rural areas has clearly received far from enough attention.

At present, some rural areas are under heavy pressure from the garbage problem: white pollution, environmental damage, drinking water safety, and residents' health. These have become "time bombs" for rural development and stability. As the main front of agriculture, rural areas are the starting point of many industrial chains. Garbage surrounding villages can easily cause secondary pollution of soil and water sources, which then turns into source-level "food pollution." This serious harmful consequence will continue to spread along the long consumption chain, and both urban and rural residents may suffer from it.

To solve the problem of garbage surrounding villages, first, control must be strengthened at the source of garbage generation in both urban and rural areas, and garbage must be strictly sorted. Garbage that can be recycled should be reused. For garbage that needs to be destroyed, it should be harmlessly treated, compressed, and landfilled, turning waste into resources or reducing its harm to the environment to a minimum. Second, urban and rural areas must work together, with coordinated planning and urban-rural linkage, to shore up the weak links in rural sanitation facilities, target the problem precisely, and gradually extend the effective garbage treatment methods used in cities to rural areas, so that garbage in rural areas can be effectively collected and promptly treated and the rural living environment can be improved. In addition, laws and regulations on rural environmental protection should be improved. For polluting enterprises, strict checks must be made in advance and accountability and severe punishment must be enforced afterward, using the legal system to build a "solid fortress" for environmental protection and promote deeper-level environmental governance.