It's official: Shanghai Household Garbage Management Regulations will come into full effect starting from July 1 of this year. To better implement the brand-new regulations, the government has set several goals to accomplish for 2019, reports Shine.
Released by Shanghai Municipal People's Congress at the end of January, the new regulations clearly clarify the classification of four types of waste: dry garbage; wet garbage; hazardous waste; and recyclable trash. Meanwhile, penalties for refusing to manage waste have been declared for the first time. Individuals will be fined up to RMB200 while organizations will receive a whopping fine of RMB50,000.
On Tuesday, the city released more directions regarding the regulations. Residential communities are asked to upgrade more garbage stations to fit all four kinds of waste. The numbers are expected to amount to 17,000 by the end of this year. Furthermore, the garbage sorting rate among residential complexes are required to surpass 70 percent.
Image via The Paper
Before garbage sorting, most waste was treated as dry garbage and was simply incinerated, which caused colossal burden to the city. This may explain why Shanghai is setting a limit to the amount of dry garbage processed daily. The figure is slated to descend below 21,000 tons. At the same time, the amount of wet garbage handled per day, which could be transformed into bio fuels, is encouraged to reach 5,520 tons within the year.
Residential communities across the city will continue to use a "green credit system" to motivate citizens to sort out household waste spontaneously. For instance, in Zhougu Town of Qingpu District, residents use points redeemed via garbage sorting to gain practical rewards like soap and toothpaste.
To further boost civilians' enthusiasm for garbage sorting, the authorities will also assemble 10 volunteer brigades, promoting and supervising garbage management. Over eight million brochures will be distributed to local residents. And if that is not enough, a set of text books have also been published targeting school kids.
Image via The Paper
Even stricter rules may be on their way in the near future, including one dubbed "no sort, no collection," which will delay or even desist the collection and transportation of the units which fail to sort waste as ordered.
[Cover image via The Paper]
