BEIJING - Investors are likely to cash in on trash over the next five years as the Chinese government has laid out an ambitious plan to boost the country's waste management sector, which analysts said may benefit related stocks on the A-share market.

China will invest up to 180 billion yuan ($27.7 billion) in the urban waste disposal sector during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015). The State Council said on Wednesday that the government aims to boost the development of the waste-to-energy industry by building more incinerators to generate electricity. It also plans to achieve an 80 percent rate of harmless treatment of household garbage nationwide by 2015.

Industry analysts expect the market for the country's waste incineration sector to reach 240 billion yuan during the next five years and waste management companies are likely to see a boom in business fueled by more government funding and favorable policies.

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The waste-to-energy sector has gained nearly 20 percent on the A-share market since January and analysts said that stocks of related companies, such as waste disposal service providers and incineration equipment producers, may offer investment opportunities.

Share prices of waste incineration equipment producer Wuxi Huaguang Boiler Co Ltd jumped by 6.14 percent on Thursday to close at 27.33 yuan while Anhui Shengyun Machinery Co Ltd gained 1.2 percent to 31.98 yuan.

"The growing demand and more government subsidies mean that companies in the trash sector are going to experience a period of fast development in the next few years," Gong Junjie, an analyst at Guodu Securities, said in a report.

China produced 152 million tons of waste in 2010 and has overtaken the United States as the world's largest producer of household garbage. The government has initiated a vast program to build incinerators to dispose of waste as the country's landfill availability continues to decline.

The capital city Beijing alone will reportedly build nine waste incinerators over the next five years. Analysts said that the growing demand for waste- management solutions will continue to drive the installation of incinerators across the country.

China has listed the energy-saving sector and environmental protection as key strategic industries in the 12th Five-Year Plan. Investment in the green sector will amount to 3.1 trillion yuan over the next five years, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.