On August 29th, a man from Hancheng City, Weinan, Shaanxi Province, China, posted a video report claiming that a local resource recycling company was damaging the environment, causing 700,000 tons of waste to flow into the Yellow River. The local environmental protection department allegedly turned a blind eye to the public’s reports. This news quickly became a hot search topic on Baidu on September 1.
In the video, the man named Huang stated that Han City Xingheyuan Recycling Resources Co., Ltd. was engaging in illegal operations under the guise of legitimate environmental management projects.
Huang claimed that the environmental project had issues with impermeability and leakage prevention, with only a single impermeable cloth laid out without proper compaction of the foundation before being put into operation. In just over a month, more than 700,000 tons of fly ash, household waste, construction waste, and industrial waste were dumped, and the 700,000 tons of mixed solid waste were not properly compressed in layers, leading to collapses and deep pits after rainfall, with serious violations in construction. In addition, the dam design did not meet requirements, causing rainwater during the rainy season to wash away the buried fly ash downstream into the Yellow River.
On the afternoon of August 29, Huang contacted Dahe Daily · YU Video “See,” stating that he had submitted a report through official channels in 2023 but was not taken seriously. After this public report, the local authorities have since contacted him, and relevant evidence has been submitted.
Several photos taken on August 17, 2024, were shown in the report video, revealing bare soil under the forest, excavation marks on the mountainside, and numerous wheel imprints on the ground. Some images displayed multiple collapses on the ground, with the soil exhibiting a dark gray color. A video without a timestamp showed what appeared to be fly ash mixed with waste being washed away by rainwater.
Local residents disclosed to the media that during severe rainstorms and landslides, some solid waste blocked the county roads.
According to a report by Dahe Daily on August 31, in 2023, Hancheng had three main units engaged in general industrial solid waste disposal activities, namely Hei Jian Building Materials Co., Ltd., Agan Storage and Logistics Co., Ltd. Hancheng Branch, and the reported Xingheyuan Recycling Resources Co., Ltd. located in Hancheng. Among them, Xingheyuan Recycling Resources Co., Ltd. handled Class I solid waste landfilling, with a designed disposal capacity of 1 million tons per year for waste rocks and fly ash, disposing of 700,000 tons in 2023.
Information from the Tianyancha app revealed that the legal representative of Agan Storage and Logistics Co., Ltd. Hancheng Branch is the same person as the legal representative of Xingheyuan Recycling Resources Co., Ltd.
Zhao, the relevant person in charge of the reported company Xingheyuan Recycling Resources Co., said in response to “See”: “What he said is a false accusation.”
Regarding the landslides and collapses shown in the report video, Zhao attributed them to several heavy rainstorms in early August, claiming that such conditions were common on the mountainside.
Following the report, nearly two hundred netizens commented on the situation.
One user, “ConcernedCitizen1987,” said, “The green mountains and clear waters are hard-won; please cherish them and think about your offspring! Don’t just think about yourself!”
Many netizens also expressed concerns for Mr. Huang’s personal safety. “ConscienceOfSociety1987” commented, “Mr. Huang, I am very worried about your personal safety!”