Policy-making coordination of municipal solid waste policies in China: a content analysis

Massive urbanization and rapid development of urban economy have increased the generation of municipal solid waste in China. Like all developing countries, the Chinese government has endeavored to enact some policies for municipal solid waste with a goal to reduce its negative impacts on the natural environment and public health. Here, the purpose of this paper is to retrospectively examine the policy-making coordination of municipal solid waste policies (MSWPs). This was done through proposing an analytical framework, which was made up of policy level, policy subject, and policy tools. To achieve this, 421 MSWPs were gathered from January 1, 1981 to March 1, 2015. It was found that the coordination of policy levels is strong after 2000. However, the coordination between policy subjects is weak. The main reason is that “fragmented authoritarianism” produces inter-ministerial competition which creates power struggles obstructing proper coordination among policy subjects. The coordination of policy tools is strong.