GOVERNMENTS at city and district levels will offer subsidies totaling 62.5 million yuan (US$8.84 million) a year to individuals, households and units that play exemplary roles in garbage classification.

The incentives for garbage classification will last three years starting Nov. 1, the city government said in its latest gazette.

A total of 5,000 households, 1,000 individuals and 500 housing estates will be awarded under the subsidy program. The number of units is not limited. Families with members who actively participate in garbage classification and accurately assort garbage for no less than 120 days and participate in supervision of garbage classification at housing estates no less than six times are eligible for the rewards. Households with good classification records can receive up to 2,000 yuan in rewards, and individuals are eligible for up to 1,000 yuan.

As one of the 46 Chinese cities selected to require garbage sorting, Shenzhen has strengthened measures to require that residents throw away their household garbage in designated places and allocated staff to supervise the sorting at fixed times and locations.

After the first half of the year, a total of 805 residential compounds had removed the trash bins originally placed on each story of each building, which affected 480,000 households with 1.67 million residents. Shenzhen issued the country’s first guidance on household garbage sorting in 2017, which categorized nine kinds of garbage.

Normal household garbage was divided into four types, namely glass, metal, plastic and paper waste; food waste; hazardous waste and other waste. Old clothes have been given special bins for collection.

(Richard Han)