Shanghai raises garbage sorting standard

Garbage sorting at more than 95 percent of 13,000 residential communities and villages across Shanghai will be brought up to standard this year, the city’s greenery authorities announced on Wednesday.

Last year’s figure was 90 percent compared with 15 percent at the end of 2018, according to the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau.

Among the 95 percent, the target is that over 85 percent will reach model standard this year, the bureau said.

Last year, 87 percent of enterprises in Shanghai had their garbage-sorting performance up to standard, also to be lifted to over 95 percent this year, the bureau said.

More than 6,000 tons of recyclable waste and about 9,000 tons of wet garbage will be sorted every day in the city this year, compared with 4,049 and 7,453 tons respectively last year, it said.

As a result, the goal of daily handling of dry garbage has been set at below 16,800 tons this year, compared with 17,731 tons last year.

More than a ton of hazardous trash is expected to be sorted daily, in comparison to 0.6 tons last year.

Last year, 4,049 tons of recyclable trash was collected daily, and the figure was 0.6 tons and 7,453 tons for hazardous and wet garbage, a surge of 431.8, 504.1 and 88.8 percent respectively from a year earlier, according to the bureau.

The amount of dry trash handled daily last year was down 17.5 percent.

The city's capacity in garbage collection and transport will be further raised this year as part of its efforts to improve a whole-process sorting system, the bureau said.

An extra 3,450 tons of daily capacity in wet trash recycling and dry waste incineration is on the agenda for the year to eliminate landfill of household garbage, the bureau said.

Authorities will also step up efforts to expand recycling channels for recyclable trash and raising the sorting efficiency at universities, hospitals and transport hubs this year.

They will also promote the reduction of garbage from express delivery, catering businesses and hotels by promoting a green lifestyle, the bureau said.