China is one of the countries with the most urban population in the world. In 2020, the scale of sewage treatment in China exceeded 200 million tons per day, resulting in over 60 million ton sludge per year (counted by 80% moisture content).

In recent years, China's environmental protection enterprises and research institutions have made great progress in sludge treatment and safe disposal, which have improved technological levels, and accumulated valuable engineering experience.

ISO/TC 275, Sludge recovery, recycling treatment and disposal, convened the 9th plenary meeting in hybrid forms on October 12, which was attended by over 20 representatives from France, China, Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, etc.

CNIS, the domestic technical counterpart of ISO/TC 275, organized seven Chinese experts to attend the meeting virtually. The attendees discussed the current standards projects and future plans of 8 working groups on terminology, characterization methods, anaerobic digestion, land application, thermal processes, thickening and dewatering, inorganics and nutrients recovery, as well as communication and management of public awareness.