(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-13 21:55

The Beijing municipal government is planning to ban individuals from collecting and processing kitchen waste from the venues and restaurants for next year's Olympic Games.

The administration will seek tenders from quality contractors to dispose kitchen waste, according to a circular reported in the Beijing News.

The 122 restaurants signed as catering partners of the Olympics and 31 Olympic venues are in the first group to carry out the policy.

More big restaurants, school and government department canteens will join in by 2008 and all restaurants in the city will be covered by 2010.

Beijing's 15 million permanent residents produce 1,200 tons of kitchen waste -- mostly food and edible oil -- each day, said an official of the Beijing Municipal Administration Commission.

The policy will prevent illegal recycling of edible oil, which fails to meet health standards and spreads epidemics, he said.

The waste contractors are required to transport waste in marked vehicles and follow regulations such as separating kitchen from non-kitchen waste.

The administration will publicize the list of selected contractors regularly, the circular said.

Four kitchen waste disposal plants are to be built in Beijing by next year.