National push to make cities more sustainable

For residents of Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province, the morning routine no longer ends with taking out the trash. With a few taps on a smartphone, a professional collector arrives at residents' doorsteps to whisk away cardboard and plastics — turning household waste into "eco-credits" that can be used to pay for groceries.

Since its launch in 2022, the waste recycling service platform, serving 559,000 households in the city's Yuhang and Linping districts, has recovered approximately 400,000 metric tons of recyclable materials, playing a key role in reducing the city's overall waste output.

According to the Hangzhou ecology and environment bureau, the city's daily waste per capita decreased from 1.06 kilograms in 2021 to 0.99 kilograms in 2024. The city of 8.75 million people is one of only a few globally that have been able to reduce this figure while maintaining strong economic growth.

In January, the city's overall efforts to reduce solid waste earned it a place among the United Nations' top 20 Zero Waste Cities, acknowledging its work in balancing rapid economic growth with sound environmental governance.

A "zero-waste city" is an urban model designed to minimize environmental impact by prioritizing waste reduction and recycling over landfill, powered by a shift toward green development and sustainable lifestyles.

China initiated its zero-waste city initiative in selected urban areas in 2018, scaling up the program during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) to encompass 113 cities and eight special regions.

At a news conference last month, Vice-Minister of Ecology and Environment Li Gao highlighted the role of zero-waste cities in a targeted approach to solid waste management. "It is both a key reform measure and a crucial lever for promoting the reduction, recycling and safe disposal of solid waste," he said.

Li reaffirmed the country's goal of engaging 60 percent of its cities in zero-waste development by 2027, before achieving nationwide coverage by 2035.

The initiative will be further expanded during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) to include around 200 cities, he added.

Translating the national strategy into locally targeted action, a number of authorities across the country have incorporated zero-waste city initiatives in their government work reports for the coming year.

These efforts include expanding waste-sorting programs, upgrading recycling infrastructure and promoting green manufacturing and circular-economy pilots.

Zhang Xueliang, an expert on urban and regional studies at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics' Chinese Modernization Institute, said the initiative will reshape both individual lifestyles and urban governance, driving a shift toward a circular, low-carbon development model.

He added that building low-carbon cities has become a core priority for urban growth, with green development becoming a hallmark of high-quality development.

Zhang said he envisions a "colorful" pathway for high-quality urban development — one propelled by a spectrum of targeted efforts in boosting industrial transformation, sci-tech innovation, green development, cultural vitality, public services, regional coordination and resilient security.

Chen Ye in Hangzhou contributed to this story.