Jiading district, Shanghai released a three-year action plan (2018-2020) on July 23 to promote garbage classification among local residents.

Jiading district, Shanghai releases a three-year action plan (2018-2020) on July 23 to promote garbage classification among local residents. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn]

It is hoped that by 2020, over 90 percent of the households in the district will be able to classify their garbage correctly, according to the plan.

The garbage is classified into dry, wet, and recyclable. The change in the amount of waste produced and the amount of recyclable waste successfully recycled will ultimately determine how successful the action plan will be considered.

Over the next three years, it is the aim of officials that the maximum average daily amount of the dry waste disposal should be reduced from 1,725 tons to 1,507 tons. Also, the minimum amount of wet waste disposal should increase from 231 tons per day to 410 tons, and resources gained from recyclable waste should rise from 58 tons a day to at least 101 tons.

Moreover, the plan includes regulations on the arrangement of dustbins, the construction of waste disposal facilities and waster transfer stations, garbage classification standards, incentives to encourage residents to sort garbage, and related supervision mechanisms.

Zhang Xi, head of Jiading district, stressed the importance of garbage classification to local ecology and regional governance and urged local officials to work hard to ensure the plan proceeds well.

Zhang Xi, head of Jiading district, stresses the importance of garbage classification to local ecology and regional governance on July 23. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn]

Jiading began to prioritize garbage classification as a key policy in 2011 and has seen some success with it. It has built a renewable energy utilization center that started operation last July, and closed down landfill sites in the district.