Although the Ministry of Construction in China developed a comprehensive technical municipal solid waste landfill standard for China, in reality, landfills are often poorly operated and good landfill practices are not well understood .
In general, landfills do not meet best practices from either the design or management perspective, and only rarely manage the MSW in a manner approaching North American or European standards.
Only newly developed landfills (e.g., in Shenzhen, Guangzhou) are considered to be operating at any where near internationally accepted standards.
Although more than 90% of waste generated in China is landfilled, in some cities,
the landfills are more or less open dumps, which unfortunately can be detrimental to the urban environment.