The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) Project Information Document (PID) Concept Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 09-May-2022 | Report No: PIDC32840 Nov 17, 2021 Page 1 of 11 The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data OPS TABLE Country Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Project Name China P176989 China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Practice Area (Lead) EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC Nov 28, 2022 Mar 28, 2023 Environment, Natural Resources & the Blue Economy Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Investment Project Financing People's Republic of China Provincial level Development and Reform Commission Foreign Capital Financed Project Management Offic Proposed Development Objective(s) To inform plastic waste management at the national level, improve plastic waste management at the sub-national level, and reduce plastics pollution from municipal solid waste in selected under-served areas. PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY-NewFin1 Total Project Cost 350.00 Total Financing 350.00 of which IBRD/IDA 250.00 Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS -NewFinEnh1 World Bank Group Financing International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) 250.00 Non-World Bank Group Financing Counterpart Funding 100.00 Borrower/Recipient 100.00 Nov 17, 2021 Page 2 of 11 The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) Environmental and Social Risk Classification Concept Review Decision High Track II-The review did authorize the preparation to continue Other Decision (as needed) B. Introduction and Context Country Context 1. The recent China Systematic Country Diagnostic1 (SCD) highlights the country’s rapid growth that resulted in a significant poverty decline. Rapid growth was made possible by a wide range of reforms, which transformed the state- dominated, planned, rural, and closed economy to a more market-based, urbanized, and open economy. China’s success enabled more than 850 million people to escape poverty. This rapid growth however has been accompanied by significant challenges with pollution, deterioration of the environment, and GHG emission. Pollution has a sizable impact on health, natural resources and ecosystems, and has caused direct losses to agriculture and industry. 2. Recognizing these challenges, China has made strong commitment to transition towards a more balanced and sustainable growth model focused on sustainable resource management, environmental protection, and ecological conservation. The 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP) (2021-2025) released in March 2021 continues the focus of the previous two five-year plans on improved resource utilization, energy efficiency, emission reduction, and pollution abatement, as well as on the preservation and restoration of eco-systems. In September 2020, President Xi Jinping committed China to the dual targets of carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. These objectives have led to a series of policy initiatives released in 2021, which include major decisions concerning solid waste management, plastic pollution control, green and low-carbon resource circularity, and decarbonization with holistic approaches. As an overarching measure, China has amended the Circular Economy Law and launched the 14th FYP on Circular Economy, which aim to decouple economic growth from resource consumption and pollution and achieve carbon emissions reduction. This and other policies provide a solid basis for the World Bank’s assistance through this project and the plastic waste reduction program of which this project is a part. Sectoral and Institutional Context 3. According to a 2015 scientific study2, China is a significant contributor to ocean plastic debris and its rivers are a main conduit of such debris reaching the ocean. While there is an ongoing additional research to identify contributing sources and volumes of plastic pollution in China reaching the world’s oceans in order to refine and update earlier estimates, given the low safe disposal rate for rural waste and prevalence of agricultural plastic that remains uncollected, rural waste is likely to be a main source of plastics pollution. Urban areas are also contributing to plastic pollution: fringe, peri-urban areas have lower service levels than city centers and lower rate of waste segregation. Legacy dumps are common in under-served areas where waste collection rates are not universal and dumping occurs along riverbeds, which are subsequently washed into the rivers during rain and flooding events. 4. China is estimated to produce more than 400 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW)/annum, of which 1 Completing the picture how the circular economy tackles climate change, Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2019) 2 Jambeck et al: Plastic Waste Inputs from Land into the Ocean. Science 347 (2015) Nov 17, 2021 Page 3 of 11 The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) 160 to 180 million tonnes are estimated to originate in rural areas .3 In 2019, waste generation was estimated at 1.2 kg/capita/day in the ten largest cities, and 0.76 kg/capita/day in rural areas. However, since dry recyclables - around 12% of MSW, are taken outside the public stream and not counted in the generation rates, it could be assumed that the actual generation is higher. Consumption of single-use plastics has been soaring, most notably in the food delivery and postal/express services, but also for packaging. Going forward, as per capita GDP continues to rise and people consume more, packaging and plastic content in the MSW is projected to grow, even relative to the growth in overall waste volumes produced per capita. For East Asia as a whole, solid waste management (SWM) generation is expected to increase by 44% by 2050.4 5. In China, up to half of the rural MSW may not be disposed safely and is considered a major source of environmental pollution.5 Similar to other municipal services, waste service levels tend to decrease geographically from the eastern coastal cities to the inland west, and deteriorate from the urban core to peri-urban and rural areas; rural areas especially in western and central provinces lag significantly compared to their urban counterparts, where the collection of MSW is near universal. In 2017, some 215 million tonnes of MSW were collected and transported from the 660 Chinese cities, of which 98% were treated and disposed of in facilities that meet the national standards.6 In 2017, based on estimates for earlier years, it was estimated that only 47% of the generated rural waste is disposed following national standards7. In 2018, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), rural waste was left unmanaged in at least a quarter of administrative villages, where open dumping and littering were ubiquitous.8 Since 2018, China began to rectify rural waste management. According to a central policy note, by end of 2020 waste management systems (collection, transportation and disposal) would cover at least 90% of rural areas in China, and 100% of rural areas in the eastern region. In practice, as of the time of this PCN, many provinces report that rural waste service is yet to reach commensurate levels as for hardware, and that unauthorized dumping of waste still takes place at scale. 6. The MSWM sector has been financed mainly by general revenue subsidies. Urban waste management systems have in general suffered from too low waste fees that could cover the municipal handling cost only marginally. Following the revision of the Solid Waste Law in 2020, local authorities above county level should establish a charging system following the “polluter pay� principle. Rural areas and local authorities below county level are typically more fiscally constrained while the unit cost for waste handling is often higher due to long transport distances and low quantities. As costs continue to increase following the introduction of waste separation and more advanced treatment, long-term financing along with cost optimization and effectiveness will be increasingly important for rural waste service provision. 7. Latest central policies and programs strongly support the equalizing rural waste service with the urban level. The 14th FYP on MSWM Facilities Development (National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)/Ministry of Housing and Rural Development (MOHURD), 2021) envisages rural waste management to gradually integrate with the urban system. The FYP gives priority to fill up the current gaps in segregated waste management infrastructure and capacity at county and township levels under the incumbent village-town-county modality, and encourages the introduction of a regional approach that features strategic planning and construction of shared facilities, and coordinated service delivery across jurisdictions. Standards and technical specifications for rural MSW collection, transfer, treatment and disposal in various local scenarios were updated by MOHURD in 2021. Since June 2020, MOHURD 3 Urban and Rural Municipal Solid Waste in China and the Circular Economy, World Bank (2019) 4 Ibid 5 Ibid 6 China Statistics Yearbook 2018 7 China Association of Urban Environmental Sanitation, the China Municipal Waste Development Report (October 2017) 8 http://www.xinhuanet.com/gongyi/2018-09/30/c_129964054.htm Nov 17, 2021 Page 4 of 11 The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) has launched a nationwide program to pilot rural waste separation and urban-rural integrated waste management in 141 counties.9 The Key Tasks to Progress New Model of Urbanization and Rural-Urban Integration (NDRC, 2021) and multiple ongoing pilot programs have identified integrated urban-rural infrastructure and equalizing waste service at county level as priorities. Despite the government aspiration, rural waste management is lagging in terms of service coverage, infrastructure and operation, and performance. 8. China has the largest agricultural area under plastic films and the improper collection and handling of the agro- films after use have posed a major environmental challenge. The area under plastic cover in China grew by 150-fold between 1982-2018 and reached over 18 million ha – this corresponds to a total of 2.5 million tonnes of plastic films used in 2018.10 Plastic mulch film has played an important and beneficial role in China’s agriculture sector, however the management of agro plastic waste including used mulch films and greenhouses, presents a major environmental challenge. Since 2014, the central government has identified mulch film pollution as a pressing issue. In 2017, MARA launched nationwide pilots of mulch film recycling in China’s major crop producing regions. The program set s mulch recovery target of 80% for pilot areas, and as a result over 400 waste mulch processing enterprises and 3,000 recycling outlets have been established. Results remain mixed and uneven, and further inputs and innovation are needed before the mulch pollution can be effectively addressed. 9. China is increasingly adopting the circular economy mindset in that waste management is not an end or standalone process, but part of a closed loop of resource circulation. The waste management sector is under transition and efforts towards circularity are evolving fast. Sector developments are driven by efforts to reduce pollution and transition to more sustainable practices. Since July 2017, China banned the import of various types of waste recycling materials including most waste plastics and launched a series of policies and programs including the Waste-Free City Initiative (2018),11 new Law on Solid Wastes (2020), ban of certain single-use plastic items (2020)12, and updated a number of directives on developing a low carbon circular economy (2021). These policies together with a number of other recent central Government reports13 continue to prioritize waste as a key sector in CE transition and subject to reform. Relationship to CPF 10. The proposed project is aligned with the World Bank Group (WBG) Country Partnership Framework (CPF, Report No. 117875-CN) for China for the period of FY2020-2025, in particular its Engagement Area 2 “Promoting Greener Growth� objective 2.2 of “reducing air, soil, water, and marine plastic pollution�. The project supports the vision and evolved engagement approaches set out in the WBG Capital Package Proposal disclosed in April 201814, with focus on the delivery of global public goods and strengthening policies and institutions required for sustainable IBRD graduation of Upper Middle-Income Country (UMIC) clients. The proposed project is also aligned with China’s 14th FYP objectives and action plans for plastics pollution reduction, and narrowing the urban-rural dualism through equalizing public service delivery including waste service. 11. In particular, the proposed project addresses the key aspects of the CPF and ensures the continued value- added of the Bank to China’s sustainable development, in the following ways: 9 http://www.mohurd.gov.cn/wjfb/202006/t20200624_246034.html 10 China Rural Statistical Yearbook (1992, 2002, 2012) and http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2020-09/01/content_5538889.htm 11 Waste-Free City Initiative approved by the State Council, December 2018 12 Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control, NDRC and MEE, January 2020 13 Report on the Implementation of 2019 Plan for National Economic and Social Development and on the 2020 Draft Plan for National Economic and Social Development by NDRC, May 2020; Report on Work of the Government by the Premier of the State Council, May 2020; Report on the Execution of Central and Local Budgets for 2019 and on Draft Central and Local Budgets for 2020 by Ministry of Finance, May 2020 14 Sustainable Financing for Sustainable Development: WBG Capital Package Proposal, Report to Governors at 2018 Spring Meetings, World Bank Group, April 2018 Nov 17, 2021 Page 5 of 11 The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) • Promoting Greener Growth (Engagement Area 2). Through project activities to inform national policies; institutional strengthening at subnational and local levels; piloting innovative local solutions; and investment in urban-rural integrated waste management systems and service delivery. • Sharing the Benefits of Growth (Engagement Area 3). An abundance of studies indicate that the poor typically reside in areas of higher exposure to environmental hazards. In China, the rural population at lower income level is exposed to a higher degree of pollution due to lagging waste services. • Addressing Global Public Goods (CPF Selectivity Criterion). To help China meet its marine plastics and climate change commitments, through the reduction of plastic pollution from MSW streams and GHG emissions from waste. • Policies and Institutions for Sustainable IBRD Graduation (CPF Selectivity Criterion). The MSWM sector 14th FYP manifests political commitment to address policy and institutional gaps to reduce pollution from underserved areas. The proposed project will build on government efforts, and develop and pilot integrated urban-rural waste service models that are operatable in different local conditions. • Supporting Critical Services in Lagging Regions (CPF Selectivity Criterion). Through equalizing MSW service in underserved areas and piloting fit-for-purpose solutions that are economically, environmentally, and technically viable in the local context. • Strategic Pilot of Approaches that Address Development Priorities, Especially in Areas Relevant to Other Developing Countries (CPF Selectivity Criterion). Through two-way knowledge sharing: (i) introduction of international experience to China leveraging the Bank’s global footprint and engagement; and (ii) pilot of innovative local solutions, and knowledge curation and diffusion to Bank’s other clients. C. Proposed Development Objective(s) 12. To inform plastic waste management at the national level, improve plastic waste management at the sub-national level, and reduce plastics pollution from municipal solid waste in selected under-served areas. Key Results (From PCN) 13. The achievement of the PDO will be measured by the following indicators: • Strengthened national plastic waste management • Strengthened institutional capacity subnational plastic waste management • Increased coverage of solid waste service in under-served rural areas • Increased agricultural plastic waste (mulch film) collection rate in rural areas • Reduced plastics leakage to environment from improved waste management in rural China • Volume of greenhouse gas emissions reduced from improved waste management and resource recycling (Metric tons tCO2e) D. Concept Description 1. Description 14. The proposed project is the second phase in a program of World Bank lending to reduce plastic pollution from China’s MSW streams, and will focus on improving the coverage and quality of waste service in under-served rural areas. The proposed project will build on and leverage the earlier approved China Plastic Waste Reduction Project (P174267) (Project 1), and the ongoing P-ASA China: Supporting Marine Plastic Debris Solutions (P170079). The focus of Nov 17, 2021 Page 6 of 11 The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) Project 1 is on measures in support of upstream15 policies through a large central component led by NDRC and pollution reduction and resource efficiency measures mainly in urban areas of Ningbo and Chongqing.16 The focus of the project (Project 2) is downstream17 plastic pollution reduction through systemic measures mainly in under-served rural areas18 of low baseline of collecting and safe disposal of wastes. The project will close this service gap, and contribute to the development of national approaches for plastic waste management specifically targeting rural areas and the improved institutional capacities at and below county level. 15. The proposed project will support the implementation of an integrated urban-rural waste management system in Shaanxi province. This will include both vertical integration, i.e. “village collects, town transports, country treats� which is the current model that is in general not well-implemented, and horizontal optimization where treatment facilities and transportation are shared and utilized by neighboring villages and towns. The vertical integration will be aided through the provision of TA and infrastructure investments to fill in gaps in collection/transport/treatment facilities, support for planning of operations and treatment plants, and for institutional strengthening focusing on jurisdictions below county level. The horizontal optimization offers additional efficiencies to the vertical integration. It will introduce the regional waste sheds19 concept, including waste-shed level planning and service provision that may cross jurisdictional boundaries within a county and possibly across counties. The proposed project will both be guided by ongoing national work and inform it, including by bringing the international experience in regional service provision, which is vast.20 16. The proposed project is structured along three components. Following a call for proposals issued by NDRC and MOF, Shaanxi was selected by the government of China to benefit under this project. The final selection is subject to approval by China government authorities and is expected in June 2022. Component 1 – Strengthening Plastic Waste Management Institutions and Capacity Building 17. This component will provide technical assistance (TA) for analytical work and system design of SWM systems, institutional strengthening and capacity building as well as for coordination and consultations between Shaanxi province 15 “Upstream� policies and measures as defined initially by Ellen MacArthur Foundation and widely adopted among sector practitio ners refers to pre- consumer measures on plastics related to production and consumption, such as material redesign, plastic reduction and substitution, and the related economic policies, incentives and stimuli to increase resource efficiency and utilization. For further discussion see: Breaking the Plastic Wave: A Comprehensive Assessment of Pathways towards Stopping Ocean Plastic Pollution, the Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ in partnership with Oxford University, University of Leeds, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Common Seas 16 These include: (i) through a large national level component implemented by NDRC – support upstream policies and solutions to reduce plastic production and consumption (e.g. material redesign, plastic substitution, market mechanisms to increase the use of recycled plastics), performance evaluation mechanisms and standards for MOHURD/municipalities/cities, and identification of gaps and opportunities to improve the institutional set-up and responsibilities for waste management; and (ii) improve waste management at the subnational level and reduce pollution from waste – mainly in selected urban areas in Ningbo and Chongqing. Two small rural districts in Chongqing are included in Project 1 on a pilot basis whereas larger support to rural areas and urban-rural integration in waste management have been envisaged under this follow-up Project 2. 17 “Downstream� policies and measures as defined initially by Ellen MacArthur Foundation and widely adopted among sector practit ioners refers to post-consumer measures on plastics, such as management of plastic waste, waste flow systems allowing separation and recycling. For further discussion see: Breaking the Plastic Wave: A Comprehensive Assessment of Pathways towards Stopping Ocean Plastic Pollution, The Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ in partnership with Oxford University, University of Leeds, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Common Seas. 18 In practice, this may include villages, towns, and peri-urban areas at below county level. 19 “Waste sheds� shall not be confused with “water sheds� which are very different and a much broader concept. “Waste sheds� also called “waste catchment area� is the area in which waste is generated for which it would make technically, financially, transport -wise sense to treat and dispose together. 20 There is a large body of knowledge and experiences internationally related to regional service delivery, more commonly referred to as inter-municipal cooperation. While the international approaches will likely be hard to apply as is in China, lessons could be drawn as they relate to cost efficiencies and operational optimization. Nov 17, 2021 Page 7 of 11 The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) and line ministries. • Activity 1A – Development of integrated urban-rural waste service models will support the development of viable urban-rural integration waste service model. Presently, rural waste management is not functioning well in China and central authorities are looking to develop models that have potential for replication across the country. This sub-component will contribute to this effort by supporting the system design of urban-rural integrated waste management. It will optimize the incumbent village-township-county waste management system or move beyond it towards more horizontal integration between villages/towns depending on local condition and demand. The focus will be to establish integrated waste flow from waste generated in underserved peri- urban and rural areas through final handling and safe disposal in an integrated system manner. Attention will be placed on operation and maintenance, economics and finance, technology application, stakeholder engagement, and performance evaluation. The fiscal impact and cost recovery considerations of the newly established, improved or expanded services will be of special focus to ensure the sustainability of the system. • Activity 1B – Consultation mechanism for integrated urban-rural plastic waste reduction between Shaanxi and central agencies. The project will support consultations among key ministries in China’s waste management and provincial and local line departments. This will benefit from the robust central policy work agenda and strong engagement of NDRC under Project 1. Depending on the need, the consultation mechanism may involve other line ministries and entities administering rural, urban, or sectoral issues on an indirect and ad hoc basis. The consultations will involve regular exchanges on lessons learned from MOHURD’s work on drafting national level urban-rural integration approach, lessons learned from the ongoing demonstration pilots in provinces other than Shaanxi, the technical work and analytics of the waste shed model, lessons from pilots related to agricultural plastics led by MARA, etc. Linkages with the central component under Project 1, led by NDRC, will be established specifically related to Area 1A and 1B which support the development of national guidance on institutional set-up and allocation of responsibilities for waste management including plastics, and national guidance and performance standards on waste management and pollution control. • Activity 1C – Subnational and local institutional strengthening and capacity building. The sub-component will support the development of provincial/local policies, regulations, standards, incentives, tariff schemes, and information/data platforms that strengthen rural waste management and plastic waste reduction. Component 2 – Improvement of the MSWM and agricultural plastic waste in underserved areas 18. This component will support investments in county and rural MSWM system improvement below county level (waste separation and collection, transfer, recycling and treatment), and recycling and safe disposal of agri-plastic waste: • Activity 2A – Integrated urban-rural waste management to reduce plastic waste leakages will support physical and operational improvements towards functional urban-rural waste management integrated models. For geographically remote or mountainous areas generating small amounts of waste that are not feasible to transport to large facilities afar and may require customized solutions, decentralized solutions may be sought. The findings from the pilots will be informative to the Bank’s global portfolio. To reduce plastic leakage to the environment from legacy sites and accumulated debris, the project will also support the closure of non-sanitary landfills, remediation of rural dump sites, and waste clean-up in waterways and rural open areas. • Activity 2B – Improved collection and handling of agricultural waste plastics will support the design and establishment of agricultural plastic collection and handling systems. The project will invest to improve supporting public infrastructure, value-chain measures, and output-based aide (OBA) mechanisms for farmers and/or cooperatives to deliver used agricultural mulch films and plastic from greenhouses to market outlets and private recyclers, in order to increase its collection and recycling rate. The design of the agri-plastic waste system will benefit from MARA’s ongoing pilots of mulch film collection across China. It will include data management Nov 17, 2021 Page 8 of 11 The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) and traceability system to monitor performance and compliance as well as costs of the system. Component 3 – Project Management, and Monitoring and Evaluation 19. Activities to be supported will include project management related consultancy services, establishment and maintenance of procurement, FM, and environmental and social systems and tools, publicity and outreach, knowledge management, and related training, exchange, and capacity building. 20. Corporate priorities (climate co-benefits, private capital mobilization, gender, and citizen engagement). Most investments will generate direct mitigation co-benefits. Complementary to Project 1, the proposed project will help reduce plastics leakage to the environment from rural waste streams, and therefore protect waterbodies ending up in the world’s ocean and soils that serve as natural sinks of carbon. Given its rural focus at predominately county level and below, the project is unlikely to benefit from private investment as co-financing. However, private investments as parallel financing is expected in the areas of recycling of agriculture greenhouse plastics. Given the importance to address needs of both genders in equalizing rural-urban waste service, the project will identify gender gap, if any, and device actions and indicator(s) to narrow the gap, following the gender tagging results chain. Considering the wide array of stakeholders in rural MSWM, a detailed stakeholder analysis will be carried out during preparation with particular attention to project-affected parties and other interested parties that both benefit and influence the project, and core vulnerable groups. Proactive interventions will be designed to ensure stakeholder participation and public support. 2. Overall Risk and Explanation 21. The overall risk for the project is rated Substantial. Substantial risk relates to the fact that rural waste management in China has long been lagging compared to urban systems due to the overall economic and social dualism and also significant gaps in finance, policy, institution and technology. Also, for the integrated urban-rural approach to work, cross jurisdiction coordination and reshuffle of responsibilities and resources are key but very hard to achieve. To this end, the project takes a cautious and gradual approach. Given the international experience that adopting a waste shed approach takes time, this project will support the start of this process while in parallel work to improve the current systems to rapidly reduce plastic leakage. The project will be developed within the national policy framework and MOHURD agenda on urban-rural integration. Additional risks stem from the generally low capacity at below county level and in rural areas, and the fiscal constraints in those areas. Comprehensive risk assessments and below-proposed ratings will be revisited and supplemented with needed mitigation measures during preparation. 22. Sector strategies and policies risk is Substantial. While clear direction to reduce plastics pollution has been set in a series of national policies and plans, the implementation mechanisms in rural areas are yet to be defined. The historic concentration of administrative resources on urban and industries has led to gaps in the planning, managing, evaluating and sustaining of rural waste service. The proposed project will pay special efforts to mitigate these risks through close dialogue and strong policy work with government at both national and provincial levels. 23. Technical design risk of the project is Substantial. Potential risks mainly exist in the lack of well-established rural waste management modalities, and technical complexity and local feasibility associated with the technical solutions that are proposed for financing under the project related to waste treatment, remediation or clean-ups. The project will internalize mitigation measures in project design, through a review of experience and lessons learned from China’s pilot programs nationwide, international good practices, and appraisal of individual activities. 24. The risk associated with implementation capacity is Substantial. During preparation, institutional capacity appraisal will be carried out. Strong leadership and guidance from the provincial level to county and below levels will be critical, and necessary institutional arrangements and capacity building need to be in place. 25. Environmental risk is Substantial and social risk is High. Environmental and social framework documents will Nov 17, 2021 Page 9 of 11 The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) outline the requirements to screen and address specific investments. On that basis, Shaanxi will need to engage third party monitoring for both environmental and social aspects of the program implementation. For details, please view concept-stage ESRS. 3. Value added of Bank support 26. The proposed project spans over several important areas of Bank engagement in China, including plastic pollution reduction, climate change mitigation, institutional strengthening, and rural-urban integration. By reducing plastic leakage from rural waste streams to the waterbodies ending up the world’s ocean and soils which serve as natural sinks of carbon, the project will help China achieve its climate commitments of carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality up to 2060. 21 The proposed project will introduce new concepts to improve the efficiency of waste management in rural areas at the provincial level, and by doing that will inform national efforts to develop national approaches on urban-rural integration. By tackling the persistent gaps in rural waste management and bringing it closer to the urban level, the project will broadly contribute to China’s accelerated actions to break the urban-rural dualism, of which improved rural livability and equalized public service delivery between urban and rural areas are key parameters. 27. The Bank is well placed to support China’s efforts to reduce plastic waste pollution and will bring in a wealth of international experience and good practices in MSWM and pollution control. Since 2014, the Bank is estimated to have 81 projects with MSW investments with a total lending envelop of USD 2.3 billion. The Bank can also build upon its recent engagements in China’s waste management sector providing finance and significant technical assistance, which include the China Plastic Waste Reduction IPF (2021), Ningbo MSW Minimization and Recycling IPF (2013), China GEF Contaminated Site Management Project (2015), and China GEF MSW Management Project (2015). Bringing in international expertise in combination with in-depth comprehension of China’s economic development and rapid waste sector evolvement is key to further advance Bank assistance to China’s plastic waste reduction agenda. This will require an approach working at the national policy level and thus with national institutions that will also include implementation at local levels where plastic waste is being generated and will need to be managed and reduced. Legal Operational Policies Triggered? Projects on International Waterways OP 7.50 No Projects in Disputed Areas OP 7.60 No Summary of Screening of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts . . CONTACT POINT World Bank Kremena M. Ionkova, Guangming Yan, Katelijn Van den Berg Lead Urban Specialist Borrower/Client/Recipient 21 President Xi Jinping’s speech to the UN General Assembly on September 2, 2020 Nov 17, 2021 Page 10 of 11 The World Bank China Plastic Waste Reduction Project 2 (P176989) People's Republic of China Xiang Peng Acting Director zjc@mof.gov.cn Implementing Agencies Provincial level Development and Reform Commission Foreign Capital Financed Project Management Offic TBD TBD TBD TBD@email.com FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Kremena M. Ionkova, Guangming Yan, Katelijn Van den Berg Approved By APPROVALTBL Country Director: Martin Raiser 30-May-2022 Nov 17, 2021 Page 11 of 11