The new garbage sorting regulation has taken effect in Shanghai starting July 1. Many citizens are still confused about the classification of the four different types of trash. Thankfully, authorities have released an official guideline to explain the new rules.
The guideline, published by the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau, provides a rather clear definition on the four kinds if waste: recyclable waste, harmful waste, household food waste and residual (剩余) waste.
A team from the U. K.'s National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine examined 14 lean and overweight men and analyzed their metabolic (新陈代谢) health. The participants were either assigned
Harmful waste, as the name suggests, includes various poisonous materials like used batteries, light bulbs, out-of-date medicines, paint and pesticides.
Household food waste — which is translated to "wet trash" in Chinese — refers to food leftovers, rotten food, pet food, fruit peels, remains of TCM herbs (中药) and flowers.
Paper, plastic, glass, metal and textiles (纺织品) are counted as recyclable waste.
The definition of residual waste is a little confusing. Anything that is not listed above belongs to this category.
As specific as the new guideline is, residents still have a hard time sorting trash correctly and are finding it challenging to memorize them all. For instance, both plastic bottles and bubble tea or coffee cups are plastic materials. However, the former falls to the category of recyclable waste and the latter belongs to residual waste. To save the hassle, some netizens have come up with their own way to sort trash.
"We should do this from a pig's angle," commented one netizen. "Those edible (可食用) for pigs are household food waste. Those even pigs don't want to eat are residual waste. If a pig consumes something and dies of it, then something must be harmful waste. Those that can be sold and the money we gain can be used to purchase pigs are recyclable waste."
The new regulation came into effect on July 1. Those who do not sort their trash properly will be fined RMB200.
