CLOTHES AND SHOES collected from some residential communities in Shanghai have been poorly recycled according to media reports. Many so-called recycling bins are actually taken care of by garbage collectors, who resell the secondhand clothes to local flea markets or simply send them to dustbins and waste furnaces. Beijing Times on Thursday called for better management and favorable policies to avoid the considerable waste of used clothes:

Shanghai's case may be just the tip of the iceberg. The sorting of waste seems to have failed in most parts of the country, as the categorized rubbish often ends up being mixed again at collection or picked up by garbage collectors for reselling.

Of course, local governments' increasing enthusiasm for waste recycling is praiseworthy, but it has contributed little to protecting the environment. Simply leaving the used clothes for garbage collectors to dispose of as they want is against the original recycling intentions of not only the government but also the residents who give their clothes away.