Sustainable waste management: the influences of government capacity in the greater China region

Reducing the quantities of municipal solid waste and the negative effects of waste disposal on the environment and public health are common challenges in many large rapidly growing cities in non-OECD countries. This chapter examines three major cities in Greater China, namely Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taipei, as case studies for understanding ways that municipal governments mobilise bureaucratic and public resources to achieve ambitious policies and paradigm shifts regarding municipal solid waste management. Based on extensive field research, this chapter elaborates on the interaction patterns among stakeholders in municipal solid waste management and examines their influences on the decision-making and implementation of waste management reforms in these cities. The chapter argues that municipal governmental capacities to formulate and implement policies are influenced by internal coordination among the relevant actors in the governments and are conditioned by institutional arrangements related to government-society interactions.