Beijing explore new ways to dispose of bio wastes

There have already been around 400 tons of leaves that have fallen alongside the streets of Shijingshan District this winter. Instead of being mixed with domestic waste and buried on landfill sites like in the past, the leaves have been used to feed oxen and sheep at a livestock farm whose owner came to sanitation stations and asked for the leaves. This not only helps the livestock pass the winter, but it also saves the sanitation stations from covering the costs of clearing, transporting and burying the leaves. Reporters learned that the Shijingshan District Santitation Center has used this method to process the fallen leaves for the second consecutive year.

Fallen leaves are not only high in nutrients, but they also reduce the cost of feeding livestock

Workers clean leaves on the street

Reporters learned that the leaves lying along the streets of Shijingshan District mainly fell from Populus lasiocarpa, Populus simonii, Chinese toon and pagoda trees. "The leaves we collected were buried at landfill sites in Mentougou District in the past, so we not only covered the high costs of clearing and transporting leaves, but also paid landfill sites fees. There was inevitably some air pollution such as dust that was kicked up during the transportation process," said Gao Fei, an official from the Shijingshan District Sanitation Center.

Last winter, to properly dispose of the fallen leaves, the Shijingshan District Sanitation Center found a good destination for the collected leaves - the Black Stone Sheep and Ox Farm, by sending the leaves there free of charge to be used as a basic component of animal food. "Having found that the livestock farm actively collects fallen leaves from poplar and pagoda trees, we immediately contacted them and discovered that this was an environmentally-friendly and win-win deal, so we started working with them. The partnership continues into this year," said Gao.

According to an employee from the livestock farm, all of herbivorous animals need to eat a certain amount of fiber in their diet, and the leaves from poplar and other types of trees contain multiple important nutrients such as cellulose, sugar, fat, protein, amino acid and other minerals, in levels much higher than those found in ordinary grasses. In particular, the nutrient value of fallen leaves in the winter is higher than that of grasses, and fallen leaves are more flavorful for oxen and sheep, which may help animals to pass the winter. "The 400 tons of fallen leaves may feed the oxen and sheep till fresh grass is available next year, reducing a lot of feeding costs," the employee added.