THE Shenzhen urban administration officially began to enforce fines Saturday on units — mainly residential estate management and waste transportation companies — that failed to implement a mandatory waste classification rule after a one-week grace period. This was the first time the authority had enforced the rule since it was put into effect citywide in August 2015. During the grace period, between Jan. 8 and 12, law enforcement teams launched random checks at housing estates by giving warnings to those who failed to follow the rule. A total of 82 orders for rectification were issued and one waste transportation company faces a fine of 2,000 yuan (US$294). The checks mainly target property management and transportation companies that have failed to implement the waste assortment rule. Property management companies that fail to publicize the locations and times the sorted waste is collected will be fined as much as 10,000 yuan. In a random check last week at Jinghai housing estate in Futian Subdistrict in Futian District, the property management was warned for failing to publicize the locations and time periods for disposing sorted waste. In a housing estate in Xili, the property failed to publicize the guidance or set up sorted dustbins. The city has formed a system for sorting bulk waste, used textiles, used potted flowers and plants, kitchen garbage, vegetable waste and poisonous waste. The waste is sorted and then either incinerated or put into a landfill. To subdivide the sorting and encourage more residents to get involved in garbage classification, the urban management bureau released a guidance last October on household garbage classification. The guidance gives detailed explanations on the standards for dustbins, and methods of waste classification, collection and transportation. With the expansion of the city, which now has 20 million people, the city’s waste continues to rise. In 2016, the city produced 17,100 tons of domestic waste a day. The current five incineration plants can handle 7,125 tons a day. Three other plants, which are under construction, will increase the city’s capacity to 17,125 tons a day when they are put into operation in 2020. Shenzhen is one of 46 cities that were chosen by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to pilot obligatory waste classification last March. |