A boy disposes of garbage in the Bund, a landmark in Shanghai, on June 30. (Photo: CFP)

The city of Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan Province said it will construct six garbage incineration power plants to achieve "zero landfill" of crude waste by the end of next year. 

In the first half of this year, 2.6 million tons of Chengdu's household garbage had been disposed of in a harmless way, about 42 percent of which were incinerated by four major environmentally friendly power plants, which gives the local government reason to speed up its pace, local news outlets reported on Tuesday. 

"There will be 10 incineration power plants in Chengdu by the end of 2020, and we are hoping it can replace the garbage landfill by the end of next year," a staff member from Chengdu's commission of urban management surnamed Xie told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

"Waste incineration helps in land conservation, which could ease garbage pressure on big cities as there is not enough space in big cities for garbage landfills," Luo Yameng, a Beijing-based urban planning and eco-city expert, told the Global Times.

However, constructing incineration plants has long been a source of controversy in China, and attention has grown following a protest against an incineration project in Xiantao, Central China's Hubei Province in June 2016.

Keeping the source of pollution and danger away from a residential area is a basic principle and must be followed, Luo said. 

He also stressed the need to inform nearby residents about the pros and cons of waste incineration power generation as some local governments were misunderstood and criticized for failing to properly communicate with residents, such as the recent planning of incineration plant in Wuhan's Xinzhou district. 

Luo said a proper supervision and management mechanism for nearby residents should also be established to improve public communication. 

The Chengdu government is mulling over support measures to better engage citizens in the process of garbage disposal, including a newly released draft regulation on the management of household garbage. 

Chengdu's commission of urban management has released the draft regulation on its website to solicit public opinions on June 25. 

The draft specifies the responsibilities of government departments, companies and households in terms of garbage sorting, placing and disposing.