Shanghai's recycling success

Shanghai has collected 1.14 million tons of recyclable waste since the beginning of July when the household garbage-sorting regulations came into force, the city’s commerce commission said on Thursday.

It includes paper, plastic, glass and textiles and “almost all” had been recycled, the commission told city legislators during an inspection.

The government has been stepping up its effort to push for sustainable development of the recycling industrial value chain for different sorts of waste, and products made from some of Shanghai's waste had been increasingly placed in the world market, according to the government.

In Zhonggu Town, Qingpu District, the Yanlongji company has constructed the world’s most productive, efficient and environment-friendly waste glass processing line which can produce 2 million tons of products a year, while the Xinjinhua company has been collecting waste glass in Changning District for Yanlongji, the commission said.

The glass from the waste is either exported or sold to domestic glass producers to be made into glassware and construction material.

In Fengxian District, waste plastic collected from 116 residential complexes is first processed by machines at five waste transfer stations in foam cubes and then sent to the Intco company for further processing.

Intco products, including baseboards in home decoration and frames for paintings, mirrors and photos, have been sold to 120 countries and regions, according to the commission.

As a result of government procurement, 45 companies are now working to collect recyclable waste throughout Shanghai, and 122 companies across the Yangtze River Delta region with 37 in Shanghai are processing the waste, the commission said.

Shanghai residents can dispose their recyclable waste at 13,998 spots, and 181 transfer stations and nine terminals are relaying the waste collected, according to the government.

In October, over 5,900 tons of recyclable waste was collected in the city every day, the government said.