Baotou, an inland city in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, has raised its  industrial solid waste recycling rate to 47.7 percent - an increase of 5.4 percentage points compared with 2019. 

In order to turn Baotou into a "zero-waste city", the government has rolled out a succession of policies to accomplish the comprehensive utilization of the waste, which, if handled properly, can be considered another kind of resource. 

Government bodies in charge of environmental protection have taken the lead in the autonomous region in establishing an online monitoring system for industrial solid waste emissions. Technologies including big data and the "internet of things" are deployed to provide real-time updates. 

The government, enterprises and the third parties work together to maximize waste utilization. 

To date, the online system has covered more than 95 percent of hazardous waste and 90 percent of industrial solid waste in the city, and the number of registered companies has reached 243.