Nowadays, Auntie Wang, who lives in Yabao Apartment, Jianguomen Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, has developed a new habit: every morning when she goes out for a walk, she carries a green bucket filled with kitchen waste generated at home the day before. When she arrives at the gate of the community, she puts the bucket on a light green shelf, on which are neatly arranged green buckets brought downstairs by more than a dozen neighbors.

After a while, the staff responsible for collecting and transporting garbage arrives on a tricycle. By scanning the smart points card installed on the bucket, the number of times Auntie Wang puts in kitchen waste is converted into points and uploaded to the garbage discharge registration system in real time. After accumulating a certain number of points, Auntie Wang can receive corresponding rewards. The kitchen waste is sent to the treatment station and transported away by special sanitation vehicles. Xing Zhilei, the project manager of an environmental protection company in charge of the project, said: "Now nearly half of the residents of Yabao Apartment will put their kitchen waste into the green bin. Everyone thinks this method is good. We are ready to actively promote it."

In early June, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued important instructions on garbage classification, emphasizing that we should cultivate the good habit of garbage classification, and everyone in the whole society should take action to improve the living environment and contribute to green development and sustainable development.

Only by accumulating more good models and good pilot projects can we lead more people to develop the good habit of garbage classification and form a new fashion. To this end, megacities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Shenzhen have successively amended or legislated on the management of domestic waste, strengthened the whole process classification, and strictly enforced the law through supervision and guidance, so that more people can take action. Some experts describe this as garbage classification entering the "mandatory era".

So, from persuading classification at the beginning of this century to mandatory classification today, what changes will the new round of domestic waste classification in megacities usher in? How can the vicious circle that existed before be broken? The reporter interviewed environmental experts in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places on this.

Say "No" to Unclassified Garbage

In another week, the "Shanghai Municipal Domestic Waste Management Regulations" will be officially implemented. The reason why this regulation is eye-catching is its symbolic significance: after more than 20 years of advocacy work, Shanghai took the lead in incorporating garbage classification into the legal framework.

Through legislation, Shanghai has clarified the classification standards for four types of domestic waste: recyclables, hazardous waste, wet garbage and dry garbage. Hotels and restaurants are not allowed to actively provide disposable items. For the first time, it is clear that the entire process of domestic waste must be classified, and the system of responsible persons for classified disposal management and corresponding legal responsibilities has been established. For example, if an individual mixes garbage, he may be fined up to 200 yuan; if a unit mixes and transports garbage, he may be fined up to 50,000 yuan.

"The significance of this legislation is to transform the previous environmental protection volunteer actions into the legal obligations of every citizen." Liu Xinyu, an associate researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Sustainable Development of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with reporters that Shanghai's domestic waste classification work has done a good job in front-end classification and back-end processing, but the connection between each link needs to be improved.

Not only Shanghai, many megacities have also joined the ranks of promoting mandatory classification of domestic waste.

At the 13th meeting of the 15th Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress held at the end of May, the Beijing Municipal People's Congress Urban Construction and Environmental Protection Committee suggested that the "Beijing Municipal Domestic Waste Management Regulations" be revised and improved as soon as possible, and mandatory waste classification should be implemented in accordance with the law, and corresponding penalties should be set for violations of waste classification regulations; mixed loading and mixed transportation should be eliminated, and the "no classification, no collection and transportation" forced mechanism should be clarified.

The "Beijing Municipal Domestic Waste Management Regulations" came into effect as early as March 2012. However, according to relevant surveys, less than 20% of Beijing citizens have an understanding of the specific content of the regulations.

Wu Xiangyang, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters that this amendment means that the waste classification management mechanism will undergo major changes. He believes that the effect of Beijing's domestic waste classification has not been ideal. One important reason is that it used to rely mainly on publicity and advocacy, which lacked coercive power. This amendment will allow people who do not classify to be truly bound by law and suffer losses, which will greatly enhance people's motivation to classify waste.

According to reports, Beijing's mandatory garbage classification targets public institutions such as schools and hospitals, as well as commercial office buildings, tourist attractions, hotels and other business places, and has not yet involved residents. However, in Wu Xiangyang's view, "the future trend is full coverage."

In Shenzhen, the "Regulations on the Classification and Disposal of Domestic Waste in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (Draft)" has completed soliciting opinions from the public, and legislative work is in full swing. Among them, the regulations such as removing bins from floors and increasing the fine for individuals who do not classify domestic waste by 10 times have aroused heated discussions.

In Guangzhou, the "Guangzhou Municipal Domestic Waste Classification Management Regulations" came into effect on July 1 last year, and regular law enforcement inspections have become an important starting point. In late August, a Guangzhou citizen was fined 200 yuan by the Urban Management Law Enforcement Department for not classifying large garbage, becoming the first person in Guangzhou to be punished for violating the regulations.

"Compared to fines, the more important work at present is to open up the various links of garbage classification." Zeng Yunmin, director of the Environmental Economics and Policy Research Center of the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters that a sound mechanism should be established to let residents know how to classify garbage and where the garbage goes as soon as possible.

Significant progress in the treatment of domestic waste in megacities

The history of domestic waste classification in megacities can be traced back to the pilot work of domestic waste classification and collection in eight cities started by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in 2000. Among the eight cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are all on the list. Nearly 20 years have passed, and now these megacities have made significant progress in the classification of domestic waste.

More kitchen waste has been sorted out. In megacities, kitchen waste usually accounts for nearly half of domestic waste. Taking Shenzhen as an example, Shenzhen residents generate more than 5,000 tons of kitchen waste every day, accounting for 44% of residents' domestic waste. Separating and treating kitchen waste is a breakthrough in the classification of urban domestic waste.

Zeng Yunmin introduced that the important experience of Guangzhou's garbage classification in recent years is the separation of dry and wet. For wet garbage such as kitchen waste, some Guangzhou citizens set up processing facilities at home, crush the kitchen waste and discharge it into the sewer pipes; in vegetable markets and communities, the government has established some small processing facilities to process it nearby and make organic fertilizer.

In some communities in Haidian District, Beijing, reporters found that there are kitchen waste collection stations with dedicated staff on duty in the community, which solves the problem of "I have sorted it, but it is mixed together downstairs" that residents complain about a lot. Jianguomen Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, has attracted market-oriented companies to set up self-service kitchen waste bins, green life stations, and smart garbage bins that can be scanned by face and card in the community to collect kitchen waste, and reward residents who sort and put it out by exchanging points for prizes.

"Beijing has always regarded kitchen waste as the main classification category, and has generally established a hardware system for the classification, collection and transportation of kitchen waste in the garbage classification demonstration area. It has tried to adopt a points system and other methods to attract residents to participate, and has made great efforts to solve the problem of kitchen waste classification." Xie Xinyuan, policy director of the Zero Waste Project of Beijing Friends of Nature Public Welfare Foundation, told reporters.

For the classification and treatment of other garbage, there are also many new models. Reporters saw that residents often sent plastic bottles, waste paper shells, batteries, etc. to the green life station in a community in Jianguomen Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing. Yan Jun, director of the Environmental Sanitation Office of Jianguomen Street Office, introduced that the street has currently established 9 green life stations, which not only collect kitchen waste, but also recyclables and hazardous waste, which are priced by weight and paid in cash. The street also adopts the purchase of services to dispose of large garbage on the spot, and processes old sofas, garden branches, etc. into granular raw materials. The data is uploaded to the garbage discharge registration system simultaneously, which basically realizes the classification collection, classification transportation and closed-loop management of domestic garbage, and the garbage reduction effect is obvious. In Shanghai, more than 5 million "green accounts" have been issued, and the "large diversion, small classification" system is being improved; in Shenzhen, the removal of garbage bins from floors and the collection of garbage disposal fees with bags are also being promoted.

"The garbage sorting work in megacities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen is improving every year, and is shifting from garbage disposal to garbage sorting and improving the garbage disposal system." Zeng Yunmin said that, relatively speaking, megacities have more advantages in carrying out garbage sorting. According to his research, there is a certain correlation between residents' garbage sorting behavior and their education level and income level, and the sufficient financial resources of large cities also allow urban managers to establish a corresponding system.

Break through the vicious circle of "concept recognition, lagging action"

According to relevant laws and regulations, starting from 2019, cities at the prefecture level and above in China will fully launch the classification of domestic garbage. By the end of 2020, 46 key cities will basically have a garbage sorting and treatment system, and by the end of 2025, cities at the prefecture level and above in China will basically have a garbage sorting and treatment system. In this process, the leading role and demonstration effect of megacities are very important.

On the other hand, the increasing amount of urban domestic waste, the disconnection of waste sorting links, and the low level of residents' participation...all kinds of constraints have made the waste sorting work in megacities more urgent.

Some environmental experts said that there are many main pain points in the waste sorting work in megacities. At the source, residents have a high awareness rate of waste sorting, but a low participation rate, and are in a stage of "agreeing in concept but lagging behind in action". A survey shows that at present, some cities mainly rely on garbage counselors, volunteers and garbage disposal company staff to carry out secondary sorting in the source of waste sorting. In some areas, mobilization work is rarely done at the resident level, and there is even a tendency to avoid residents in mobilization work. At the end, the classification and processing capacity is insufficient. For example, the proportion of kitchen waste treatment facilities is far lower than the proportion of kitchen waste in domestic waste; the planning of waste incineration plants is unreasonable, etc. The disconnection and mutual blame phenomenon in the various links of waste sorting, collection, transportation, and treatment due to poor supervision are even more difficult to solve in the long run.

In response to these problems and vicious circles, the relevant regulations of cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen all mentioned the following keywords: "mandatory", "fines", "no classification, no collection and transportation, no classification, no disposal", "full process classification", etc., which gave more people hope of solving the problem. And what is the key to really doing this?

Liu Xinyu suggested that, first, supervision and guidance should be strengthened on residents. Through the government supervision of the community, the community supervision of residents and other reverse pressure mechanisms, residents should be urged to develop the habit of garbage classification. Second, make the garbage classification categories easy to understand. "In foreign countries, many countries have set up several categories of recyclable garbage, each with a bucket, and the rest are called non-recyclable garbage, which is very easy to understand." Third, make full use of the market mechanism and strengthen cooperation with companies engaged in garbage classification; at the same time, pay attention to the promotion of garbage classification through social organizations and volunteers.

Wu Xiangyang said that garbage classification must be classified throughout the process. In fact, if the delivery link has been classified, the collection, transportation, and treatment links are easier to manage. He gave an example, saying that Beijing chose to start the mandatory classification of domestic waste from public institutions and commercial places because the responsible parties in these places are clear, so that the punishment can be implemented.

However, there are many difficulties in how to punish related violations. For example, how to supervise, how to determine the correct classification standards, who will check whether the classification is correct, whether to punish the legal person, property or the person who puts out the garbage, and how to transmit the punishment mechanism within the responsible party. Experts said that we should rely on scientific and technological support to combine fines with penalties, so that the damage to the interests of unclassified institutions can be combined with the damage to the personal interests of the responsible persons.

"The unity of knowledge and action, the key lies in action. Mandatory classification of domestic waste is the key to breaking this vicious circle. Of course, supervision and punishment must be in place. The next step is to cover the mandatory classification of domestic waste to residents, which is a more difficult task, but there is hope only if we move forward." Wu Xiangyang said.

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