On 10 June 2025, the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) and the International Waste Working Group (IWWG) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Dongguan, Guangdong.

Prof. Xi Beidou, CRAES President, extended a warm welcome to the IWWG delegation visiting China for the event. He noted that since initiating dialogues in early 2024, cooperation between the two parties had progressed smoothly, with the MoU officially taking effect upon approval by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) in late 2024. "We are delighted to hold this in-person signing ceremony through our joint hosting of the 2025 International Conference on Solid Waste," he stated. The collaboration marks CRAES's first international partnership platform dedicated to solid waste management. Both sides will carry out more mutually beneficial and in-depth cooperation on cutting-edge topics in this field worldwide, thereby advancing innovation capabilities in solid waste management technology.

IWWG President William Clarke and the delegation highly commended China's remarkable achievements in ecological civilization development and praised CRAES’s scientific accomplishments in areas such as solid waste recycling, hazardous waste disposal, and zero-waste city initiatives. “China is increasingly becoming a vital force in global eco-environmental innovation,” they remarked. “We are thrilled to establish this partnership with CRAES and look forward to leveraging our respective strengths to implement all aspects of the MoU, promoting international exchange and cooperation in solid waste management.”

Both parties explored cooperative prospects in zero-waste city development, green and low-carbon development, smart landfill technology, as well as future joint academic conferences, establishment of working groups, and exchanges in personnel training and academic journal management. President Xi presented letters of appointment to IWWG Board members Prof. Raffaello Cossu and Prof. Rainer Stegmann, who serve as members of the CRAES’s Second International Scientific Advisory Committee.