Schools, hospitals and government departments told to sort out their garbage

All Shanghai schools and hospitals, as well as government authorities and their subsidiaries, will be included in a compulsory garbage sorting scheme by the year end, greenery authorities said yesterday.

Staff at these institutions should sort garbage at their offices and catering areas and reduce the use of disposable items like paper cups, said Lu Yuexing, director of Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau.

Paper cups are widely used at companies for visiting guests, but glass vessels should be encouraged instead, officials said. 

Staff are further encouraged to use reusable items and to recycle printing paper, said Lu.

“Poor performances in garbage sorting will affect the assessment over these units,” he added.

By the end of September, more than 600 government authorities and their subsidiaries had been covered by the scheme, according to the bureau.

Shanghai began imposing compulsory garbage sorting requirements on working units this year.

It is running a trial policy called “no sorting, no collection and no transportation” aimed at forcing companies to sort their garbage.

For households, the city authorities are offering incentives via a “green account” scheme. Green account holders earn points by sorting garbage. They can redeem the points for various sundry items such as milk.

About two million households in Shanghai will be added to the “green account” system by the year end, which will lift the total number to 4 million.