An artist's rendering of the Helong Sanitation and Renewable Resources Recycling Center in Baiyun district, the first PPP-model waste facility in China. [Photo/WeChat account: gz_baiyunfabu]

Guangzhou's Baiyun district broke ground on the Helong Sanitation and Renewable Resources Recycling Center on June 1, marking China's first sanitation facility built under the new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model and a flagship project for intelligent household waste sorting and full-chain recycling.

With an investment of 160 million yuan ($23.60 million), the nearly 5,600-square-meter facility will process up to 300 metric tons of household waste daily, tripling the capacity of its pilot predecessor. It will feature a "2+6+X" functional system centered on intelligent sorting and compression, handling six types of solid waste, including bulky items, green waste and construction debris, with customized services such as book and newspaper recycling and plastics sorting.

Odor-producing and noisy operations will be placed underground with high-efficiency deodorization systems, while the ground level will feature a public park and basketball courts — transforming the facility from a "not-in-my-backyard" eyesore into a community asset. The project is expected to generate annual revenue of nearly 80 million yuan while cutting waste transport costs by about 2.7 million yuan.

Baiyun, Guangzhou's most populous district, produces nearly 3,500 tons of household waste daily. The district plans to replicate this model across 10 such centers by 2030, building a district-wide network for green solid waste treatment.