A resident sorts through her household waste in a residential compound in Pudong. Photo: Du Qiongfang/GT

By Du Qiongfang

As the first residential compound in Shanghai to practice waste management, Langrunyuan in Minhang district has set an example for other communities in Shanghai.

The clean and tidy environment of the compound shows the excellent work of the compound's property management company, especially in regard to the detailed classification of garbage in the area.

Beginning this month, several other districts will also introduce similar waste management programs. However, despite having a waste management program in place for years, some Langrunyuan residents still find garbage sorting confusing.

Color-coded rubbish bins are scattered throughout the compound. Green, red, yellow and black bins are designated for the disposal of glass, hazardous waste, recyclable and other garbage respectively. For many residents glass and hazardous waste are easy to distinguish, but they have problem separating organic and inorganic waste properly.

Pawing through rubbish

There are 78 rubbish bins within the compound. Although the rubbish bins are in different colors and clearly labeled, Huang Daoxia, a custodian in the compound, and her co-worker usually spend at least three hours a day sorting through garbage outdoors. Almost all the garbage has to be re-classified by Huang and her colleagues.

According to Huang, the most bothersome part of their work is separating food residue which is sent to organic waste processors. "We have to spend at least one hour separating cigarette butts, toothpicks and plastic bags from the food residue," Huang said.

There are two organic waste processors in the compound. The processors can convert around 200 kilograms of organic waste every day. Some of the waste is converted into water and gas while the remaining waste is converted into compost which is used to fertilize flowers and other plants within the compound.

This month, 18 communities in Shanghai have followed suit including seven residential compounds in Lujiazui who will introduce new waste management programs set up by the local government.

Apart from different rubbish bins set up in the compound, every family will receive one rubbish bin for wet waste. Although sorting garbage has already been practiced in the compounds for some time, the separation of organic and inorganic garbage causes confusion. 

Pan Jun, who lives in one of the residential compounds which has introduced the new waste management system this month, said, "It is difficult for Chinese to prepare several bins at home for organic waste and inorganic waste as living space is limited. It will take much time for locals to get into the habit of sorting garbage."

Some people are also concerned about the additional expenditure that will result from these new waste management programs. The Pudong district government has promised to provide free rubbish bins and garbage bags to families. As the distribution of these items is still ongoing, some residents are not willing to sort their garbage until they receive the bins and garbage bags.

A 67-year-old woman surnamed Liu who lives in one of the compounds said that she still does not sort her waste.

"I have not started to sort my garbage at home yet. I have not received the bags yet. I won't do it until the bags arrive. Plastic bags cost money," said Liu, who is not sure whether she will continue to sort through her garbage after the free bags are used up.

According to Zhang Baowen from the Environmental Protection Bureau of Pudong New Area, who is in charge of garbage classification, the government has prepared a year's worth of garbage bags for every family.

"But garbage classification and environment protection should be every citizen's responsibility," said Zhang. "We have designed various promotion plans, such as delivering introduction pamphlets and drawing blackboards in the residential compounds to direct and encourage the residents."

A banner outside the residential compound that states "Classify all garbage, use all resources responsibly." Photo: Du Qiongfang/GT

A struggling system

Not only do the residents feel daunted by the program but the custodians who work in the residential compounds are also somewhat perplexed by the new policy.
 
Zhang Li is in charge of waste management at several compounds including some in Pudong that will carry out the new programs. At 5 am every morning she collects waste from residential compounds.

"Not only do some of the residents regard it as troublesome to sort through garbage, we custodians also think it adds to our workload," said Zhang, who thinks it will take a long time for both residents and custodians to become accustomed to the new policy.

Liu Jun collects garbage in several residential compounds in Lujiazui. Everyday, he wanders from compound to compound to collect cardboard discarded by residents. "I often see different kinds of garbage piled together, which I have to go through again," Liu told the Global Times.

Some people are also concerned that the garbage classifications are not specific enough. Zhao Guoquan has just finished renovating his apartment. He is confused about how he should deal with the waste from the renovations.

"I'm confused where I should put the garbage. It seems that they do not belong to any of the rubbish bins out there," said Zhao. "Life is diverse. It is unavoidable that some homes need to be fixed sometime. Where should we put the construction waste? The relevant department should find a practical solution to this."

Not only is construction waste a problem but residents are also unsure of where to dispose of electronic waste.

In the old days a television or refrigerator would be used for 15 to 20 years, however, with the rapid development of new technology updating electronic goods is more and more frequent.

Home appliance markets have been carrying out the home appliance replacement scheme since June in 2009. The policy states that markets purchase old electronic products which are then recycled.

As a result of the policy people are now replacing electronic products more frequently with the money they receive from home appliance markets.

According to statistics published by the Ministry of Commerce, the nationwide sales of home appliances reached around 40.3 million and the recycled items reached around 41.7 million by March 7, 2011, as a result of the home appliance replacement scheme.

The policy also increased sales of electronic products to around 152 billion yuan ($23 billion). However, the range of items that can be recycled is still limited.

Other areas and policies

Although some pavilions at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai showed their countries' achievements in waste recycling, Shanghai still mainly adopts the burning and landfill method when dealing with daily waste. Burning can cause severe environmental pollution and landfill will occupy already scarce land. The gray sky in Shanghai is also caused by the burning of waste.

Chinese Taipei has been practicing garbage classification for the past decade. In the city a series of regulations for garbage classification and recycling has been introduced. The residents even have to pay for the garbage bags that are assigned to them.

Since April last year, some residential compounds in Hangzhou started to carry out a policy that states that every garbage bag should be labeled with the number of the apartment it came from to encourage people to sort through their garbage.

In Shanghai, some districts are starting to take waste management more seriously.

Both Baoshan district and Chongming have introduced a garbage sorting and recycling system. Baoshan district has signed contracts with 300 restaurants and recycling companies in the district. About 45 tons of food residue is turned into fertilizer at plants in the district every day.

The district government plans to build a 3,700-square-meter processing plant. Chongming has built a food residue processing plant which can deal with 40 tons waste per day.

According to the Oriental Morning Post, the amount of daily garbage produced in Shanghai is increasing annually. The amount to be processed has increased by 15 percent from 2005 to 2009.

Based on the current processing capabilities of plants in Shanghai, by 2020 there will be 11,700 tons of garbage that cannot be processed every day. Food residue accounts for 63 percent of total daily garbage output.

Thus a proper and effective way of processing food residue will be a great help in conserving resources and avoiding environmental pollution.