Impact of coal waste piles on the environment and their afforestation techniques in China

摘要

Coal wastes are generated in the process of coal mining and processing, which is the main pollution source in mining areas. Almost 3.0 billion tonnes of old coal mining and processing wastes lie scattered about China, forming 1500 coal waste piles, and about 150-200 million tonnes are generated each year. Therefore, the treatment of coal waste piles becomes an important task in China. This paper introduces the impact of coal wastes piles on land, soil, water sources and the air in China. The afforestation of coal waste piles has been proven to be a good method for alleviating the environmental pollution caused by coal waste piles. The afforestation techniques of coal waste piles used in China is also introduced in this paper.