Garbage Sorting

Beijing has made progress after introducing mandatory garbage sorting in May, authorities said on June 2.

The daily average amount of sorted domestic kitchen waste in the city reached 740 tons since May, up 159 percent month on month and a year-on-year increase of 37 percent, according to a press conference by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Management.

Beijing launched a guidance program called Green Bands, with people wearing green bands working in communities to help with garbage sorting.

In 2019, Beijing’s residential waste collection and transport volume was 10.116 million tons, with an average of 27,700 tons per day.

Garbage sorting is being done by over 70 percent of housing estates in 18 cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development.

The amount is 60 percent of the total investment in the area last year, according to the regional agriculture and rural affairs department.

In 2018, Xinjiang introduced a three-year plan to significantly improve the living conditions in its rural areas by 2020, including popularizing hygienic toilets and improving waste management.

Official data shows that as of April, 26,834 hygienic toilets had been installed in rural areas, penetrating 59 percent of rural areas. More than 7,500 villages, or 83 percent of the total, were able to dispose domestic waste effectively.