{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,26]],"date-time":"2026-10-26T20:26:54Z","timestamp":1793046414578,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781827200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Against the backdrop of China\u2019s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality agenda and intensified pollution control efforts, advancing the synergistic control of CO\u2082 and air pollutant emissions has become an important pathway toward green transformation and the reduction of environmental health risks. Using panel data for 286 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2022, this study treats the zero-waste city pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment and applies a double machine learning framework to identify its impact on urban synergistic outcomes in CO\u2082 and air pollutant emission control. The results show that: (1) the zero-waste city pilot significantly improves the synergistic control of CO\u2082 and air pollutant emissions, and this finding remains robust across multiple checks; (2) the policy effect operates mainly through source reduction, resource recycling, and high-standard harmless treatment; and (3) the effects are more pronounced in central and western regions, in small- and medium-sized cities, and in non-resource-based cities. Overall, this study provides new evidence that integrated environmental governance can simultaneously promote environmental sustainability and public health improvement.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1853126","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T04:29:05Z","timestamp":1781843345000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The impact of the zero-waste city pilot policy on the synergistic reduction of CO\u2082 and air pollutant emissions: evidence from China"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Bingnan","family":"Guo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology","place":["Zhenjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuren","family":"Qian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology","place":["Zhenjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Feng","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of International Business & Economics Innovation and Governance, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hao","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics, Shanghai University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ji","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Management, Wenzhou University of Technology","place":["Wenzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1210026","article-title":"Simultaneously mitigating near-term climate change and improving human health and food security","volume":"335","author":"Shindell","year":"2012","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100335","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ese.2023.100335","article-title":"The 2022 report of synergetic roadmap on carbon neutrality and clean air for China: accelerating transition in key sectors","volume":"19","author":"Lei","year":"2023","journal-title":"Environ Sci Ecotechnol"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e126","DOI":"10.1016\/s2542-5196(18)30029-9","article-title":"Health co-benefits from air pollution and mitigation costs of the Paris agreement: a modelling study","volume":"2","author":"Markandya","year":"2018","journal-title":"Lancet Planet Health"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"885","DOI":"10.1038\/nclimate2009","article-title":"Co-benefits of global greenhouse gas mitigation for future air quality and human health","volume":"3","author":"West","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nat Clim Chang"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"706","DOI":"10.3390\/su18020706","article-title":"Impact of green finance on urban ecological and environmental resilience: evidence from China","volume":"18","author":"Wang","year":"2026","journal-title":"Sustainability"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1803462","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1803462","article-title":"The impact of climate adaptive pilot cities policy on urban pollution reduction and carbon emission mitigation","volume":"14","author":"Wang","year":"2026","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1555","DOI":"10.3390\/en19061555","article-title":"Does the application of industrial robots enhance urban energy resilience? 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