Yantai to cut pollution by regulating outdoor BBQ

To ensure better air quality, Yantai city in East China's Shandong province has organized a crackdown campaign on air pollution caused by outdoor charcoal barbecue.

According to local officials, outdoor barbecuing contributes to the rising levels of particulate matter, and therefore posed a health risk to residents.

Authorities hence advocate that outdoor barbecue vendors should use eco-friendly barbecue grills and seek official approval before operating on the street. The city's management bureau has to that effect set up an inspection team to oversee outdoor barbecue.

In conformity with the directive, almost every barbecue vendors in Yantai's Zhifu district have switched to smoke-free barbecue grills, according to the district's city management bureau. However, the bureau noted that some vendors are adamant and still ignore regulations by switching off their clean fume purification facilities.

To crack down on such irregularities, the bureau will dispatch an inspection team to patrol the district between 5 pm and 10:30 pm every day. It plans to install at least 100 eco-friendly barbecue grills in the district in 2017.

A member of an inspection team at Yantai's city management bureau patrols the street to oversee outdoor barbecue. [Photo/jiaodong.net]