Burning Issue: How Design Can Help Reduce Straw Burning in China

Abstract

In China, burning agricultural waste (especially straw) is one of the practices contributing to the country’s massive pollution problem. It also has a negative health impact on people. Although the burning of the agricultural waste is for the most part illegal, it remains the most common way for Chinese farmers to rid themselves of unwanted materials and by-products of the industry. The present thesis begins by analyzing the background of straw burning in China, providing information on the pollution produced by the burning from a public health viewpoint, and listing the detrimental consequences that it brings. Next, the thesis tackles the problem of how design can reduce straw burning. This section presents a summary of several different alternative recycling pathways to replace/reduce burning and also analyzes the current situation and expectations of agricultural recycling in China. In the research design portion of the thesis study, straw bale construction becomes the main focus, including its feasibility, technologies, benefits, and challenges in the context of Chinese rural areas. Finally, using both quantitive and qualitative methods, the research attempts to find a suitable way to promote straw bale construction and to apply its technologies for the benefit of the Chinese public.