With Nanjing to officially implement mandatory classification of domestic rubbish beginning on 1 November, it is worth looking back to the experience gleaned by Shanghai in its attempts to do the same in 2019, when the reality of the situation was not very pleasant.
From the initial complaints and disputes to the present-day sense of calm, many cannot help but believe that domestic enterprises are making up for past shortcomings in regards to compliance, which are similar as those for waste classification.
Is non-compliance an option for companies?
As the world’s second largest economy, Chinese enterprises need to combine their own characteristics and carry out effective compliancy operation, so as to gradually move towards internationalisation.
According to the Regulations of Nanjing Municipality on the Administration of Domestic Waste, the system of the “person in charge of management” shall be implemented for the classified disposal of domestic waste. “Residential areas and rural residential areas implement the system of fixed time and fixed-point centralised delivery of domestic waste.” After studying the living characteristics of local residents, the first step in waste classification is to implement relevant regulations. As a result, in combination with the development characteristics of Chinese enterprises, the compliance of enterprises may be gradually internationalised.
Fortunately, the Chinese government has made an unequivocal policy; compliance comes first. While Chinese enterprises have to comply with the requirements of globalisation, the requirements for compliance are also increasing.
How to comply?
Company compliance has been imported into China gradually from the developed countries of Europe, as well as the USA. After 40 years of reform and opening up, most of the current legal regulatory systems related to compliance in China have converged with those of developed countries, and this trend of convergence is increasing.
China must thoroughly master and apply current international economic practices and rules before it can constructively participate in their improvement, adjustment and creation. Observing current international economic conventions, and creating new conventions and rules are the only means of adopting an effective culture of company compliance in China. In addition, the compliance of Chinese enterprises should follow the development direction of Chinese society.
Difficulties Associated With Compliance
One of the reasons why waste classification has been such a controversial topic of late relates to its “technical content”, that is, dry waste, wet waste, recyclable waste and hazardous waste. In view of the diversity of Chinese cooking methods and excessive packaging, people often think about the accurate classification of waste. The same challenge applies to a considerable extent to compliance.
Deemed to be essential tools for the foreseeable future are professionals adept in legal compliance and the English language, who maintain solid communication between China and the West, with a considerable degree of understanding of the relevant legal systems and actual business operations in Europe and the USA, and an objective and open international vision.
Globalisation has always been a mainstream objective, and international economic practices and compliance, as the cornerstone of trust and transactional security in the process of world economic globalisation, should remain the mainstream.
Just as the new waste classification policy will ultimately benefit the citizens of Nanjing, professionals in charge of compliance should adhere to their firm belief in globalisation, conscientiously adhere to their compliancy requirements, maintain that objective and open international vision, and step by step measure the boundless road of compliance.
