Wu Guangqiang

    jw368@163.com

    I WROTE an article entitled “A Matter of Attitude” for Shenzhen Daily on Aug. 2, 2010, expressing my concern about the ever-worsening urban waste crisis in Shenzhen and I urged the city to utilize a garbage classification and recycling program as soon as possible.

    At that time, I thought that Shenzhen, with its advanced environmental consciousness and powerful economic strength, would be one of the first cities in China to implement a recycling program, but I was wrong.

    Nearly five years have passed and nothing has changed except that trash bins marked “recyclable” and “non-recyclable” can be seen here and there. Of course, these words don’t mean anything except to indicate that at least someone has made it look like the city is making a recycling effort.

    In the article, I cited Taipei as a great example of a city that has almost no landfill garbage. Through more than a decade of effort, annual disposal in Taipei had dropped from 15 million tons to just 500,000 tons by 2010, of which 80 percent was recycled.

    I attributed Taipei’s remarkable achievement, which made Taipei one of the top Urban Best Practices Areas (UBPA) at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010, to a positive attitude because accomplishing such a herculean task doesn’t require advanced technology or modern facilities, but decision-makers’ firm determination.

    Belief, determination, perseverance and the authorities’ attitude are keys to meeting such a goal. Only when authorities believe that they can make it happen and lead the public to make it happen, can changes take place.

    Sadly, in Shenzhen as well as other Chinese cities, the absence of effective measures, the prevalence of formalistic rules and only perfunctory implementation of plans all reflect the authorities’ lack of confidence in accomplishing the task.

    My recent trip to Japan helped me better understand what a positive attitude can accomplish.

    In Shenzhen, the only indication of the existence of recycling efforts is the garbage bins marked “recyclable” and “non-recyclable.” No one has ever explained to the public what exactly is recyclable or unrecyclable, demonstrated how to classify garbage, nor explained how the sorted garbage is collected and disposed.

    But in Japan, recycling is part of everyone’s daily life. There are various laws governing recycling practices, the major one being the Japanese Container and Packaging Recycling Law. Japan’s recycling efforts are extremely detail-oriented, participated in by everyone and efficient. The directions for classification and collection are so specific that they may seem too complicated in the eyes of many Chinese. But most citizens consciously follow the instructions — they have been constantly taught and trained why and how to recycle from the time they enter kindergarten.

    Volunteers with armbands identifying them as “garbage inspectors,” mostly neighborhood aunties, go around neighborhoods patiently explaining the right way to dispose of garbage. Different types of waste are collected on different days, for example, paper on Monday, glass on Tuesday, batteries on Friday, and so on. The rules are strictly followed as daily routines.

    As a result of the active participation by all parties concerned, Japan has become a model country in terms of recycling. Legislation, government leadership, organizational support and mass participation, each of these factors is an essential link in a successful program.

    China does not have any legislation on recycling, which is why China is still lagging behind in the field.

    To my disappointment, as a leader of China’s reform and opening-up drive, Shenzhen is no more advanced in recycling. In 2000, Shenzhen, along with seven other cities, was appointed as a “pilot city” for exploring garbage recycling, but little progress has been made in this regard.

    Recently, a group of students from Shenzhen’s Liyuan Primary School wrote a letter to Xu Qin, Shenzhen’s mayor, expressing their worries about the backwardness of Shenzhen’s attitude toward recycling. The mayor responded to the letter and urged the concerned agencies to take effective steps to make a difference.

    However, unless the municipal government takes the matter as seriously as it does GDP targets, no substantial changes will occur in the foreseeable future.

    (The author is an English tutor and freelance writer.)