Trash collection gets smarter with more service spots

Ti Gong

Shanghai will add another 300 recyclable trash collection service spots by the end of this year, the city's greenery and public sanitation authorities announced on Tuesday.

These spots will combine the collection of recyclable waste, green and low carbon science popularization, sorting and packaging of recyclable trash. Both residents and businesses will be able to deliver their recyclable garbage at these stations, according to the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau.

Last year, 32 such stations were established across the city.

The city has also set up classification containers of recyclable wastes at parks, public squares, and shopping malls.

The collection and recycling rate of household garbage in Shanghai has hit 43 percent so far, according to the bureau.

Accompanied with the increasing number of parcels and online takeaway foods, the growing amount of packages and meal boxes has emerged as a new headache in the city's trash sorting and recycling chain.

Ti Gong

To tackle the problem, a WeChat mini program has been launched which enables residents to check information of their nearby collection spots and even reserve a collection service, according to the bureau.

The program was trialled since December in Changning District and has been expanded citywide.

Last month, Changning hosted 79 collection events with 22,384 orders from residents recorded.

Shanghai has made remarkable progress in its trash-sorting campaign since its garbage classification regulations went into effect on July 1, 2019, with waste separation becoming a way of life for residents.

Over the past years, more than 95 percent of residential complexes and work units in the city had been up to trash-sorting standards, according to the bureau.

The city sorted 9,443 tons of wet trash daily, accounting for 35 percent of the combined amount of wet and dry trash. A total of 7,698 tons of recyclable trash were collected daily in the city.