Shanghai gets serious about trash sorting

Model practice

Long before the regulation took effect, many districts in Shanghai had started a trash-sorting program, and good practices from pilot districts were copied and spread across the city.

Disposing of trash in a designated area during a set time is a practice implemented citywide by the Shanghai Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau.

Wang Cai was hired as a trash-sorting monitor in Gaojing town, Baoshan district, by a local sanitation company in 2017. In the past two years, Gaojing has selected 10 neighborhoods to pilot trash sorting, and Wang was among the first monitors assigned to these areas.

"At the time, we had to sort the trash placed by residents in bins and educate them," she said. "Back then, people were not so cooperative, and some even mocked us, saying: 'Why bother sorting the trash? Sorted trash is still trash'.

"We told them sorted trash can be used more efficiently — kitchen waste can become compost, residual waste can be incinerated to generate electricity, recyclables save our natural resources," Wang said.

She noticed that people's attitudes changed gradually, especially in the months after the law was passed. "Now, people see me as an expert and ask me when they don't know what category an item of trash belongs to," she said. "They greet me with kind words for my work, and I have never felt so proud of doing my job."

In addition to monitors from the sanitation company, local volunteers also play a role. Since June, Zhu Yinglei, Party chief of Gonghe No 3 Village subdistrict, and other local volunteers have visited trash-disposal points in neighborhoods every day from 6:30 am to 8:30 am and 6 pm to 8 pm.

Zhu said they check whether residents have separated their trash correctly, adding that the relationship formed between the volunteers and residents created peer pressure, which helped people to change their behavior and form new disposal habits.

She started recruiting volunteers in March, but at first no one applied. "There was a lack of confidence among people back then. Many thought this trash-sorting program would just be a short-lived movement. Later, some senior Party members took the lead and now we have 25 volunteers, but it's still not enough," Zhu said.

Correct transportation arrangements also play a key role. Li Zhongjie, deputy manager of the Gaojing Environment Sanitation Co, said it is running at full capacity. "We get more bins of kitchen waste every day," said Li, adding that the company will recruit more employees and use special trucks to ensure that trash is transported separately.

"If people see sorted trash being dumped into the same truck, they will be discouraged and won't take the program seriously anymore," he added.

Wang Yiqi, an office worker at an internet technology company in Shanghai, said that although he supports the trash-sorting program, the disposal times are not good for people such as himself who live alone and often come home after 8 pm.

"I strongly hope the times can become more flexible after people have learned how to sort their trash," he said.

A number of activities aimed at telling people how to sort their trash correctly have been held in Shanghai. Schools have organized visits to a domestic treatment museum, and companies held trash-collection activities. Talks on trash sorting were staged in communities.

On June 21, Wu Peimin was among 1,000 employees who took part in the L'Oreal China Citizen Day themed on trash sorting and low-carbon travel. Participants were divided into small groups and asked to take public transportation to different points in the city and to play a game to learn about trash sorting.