Garbage sorting well underway in trial towns as Shanghai prepares for new regulations
Resident Yang Qiuzhen, from Xuyao Village in Qingpu, redeems a bar of soap using points acquired via a green account.
Qingpu District has stepped up promotion of waste classification, with household performance rated and incentives and punishments introduced ahead of Shanghai's first garbage regulations taking effect in July.
Residents at Xuyao Village in Chonggu Town are already active in sorting garbage. The village uses a green account scheme under which points acquired by dumping garbage into the right bins can be redeemed for daily necessities.
"At first many residents, particularly the elderly, were unwilling to sort garbage," said Xu Guojun, Party secretary of the village.
Gifts are offered to reward good performance, including soy sauce, soap, tooth paste and washing powder, an incentive that has boosted residents' enthusiasm to participate in the scheme, Xu added.
Garbage bins for dry and wet waste at Xuyao Village
Cleaners, officials and volunteers at the village have begun serving as examiners, giving scores on garbage sorting efforts and posting the results in public areas every week. Each household receives a performance appraisal.
“At first, I didn't want to sort garbage because I found it troublesome," said Yang Qiuzhen, a villager in her 50s. "Now, I have formed the habit, and the gifts we receive are practical in daily life."
The village has also established a recyclable items collection station and a green account points redeeming spot.
A board displays the ratings of households regarding garbage sorting at Xuyao Village.
At Shangjingyuan residential complex in Qingpu, the sorting rate has reached over 95 percent.
The complex has two designated dumping spots open at two regular times every day. Residents receive cash or gift rewards for taking recyclable items to the collection station.
The sorting performance of each household is rated from one to five stars, and the results are displayed at the first floor of each building.
Garbage is dumped into four different bins at Shangjingyuan residential complex in Qingpu.
A total of 23 tons of waste are sorted out daily in Chonggu Town of Qingpu, a trial town for garbage sorting in the district, with 1.13 tons of garbage recycled every day.
The town has 16 residential complexes with more than 12,000 households, and the sorting rate has reached more than 95 percent.
Each household in Chonggu has been given two waste bins for dry and wet garbage.
Businesses in the town are scored, and those performing well are rewarded with a deduction of domestic garbage treatment fees. Those with low scores will be ordered to rectify, and collection and transportation of their garbage will be delayed until they have done so.
Failure to do so will result in garbage collection being refused by cleaning companies, and businesses will face administrative punishment in serious cases.
Thirty-one new-standard garbage stations have been established, and there have been 11 specific garbage collection routes set up in the town.
