When your pen is broken, the battery in your toy runs out, or you have some leftover food, what do you do with these things? You will probably throw them all into one bin. But actually, all of these pieces of trash need to be sorted (分类) separately. In recent years, some Chinese cities have been working hard on it.
Shanghai has worked with Alipay to create a" green account (绿色账户)"service for people. Account holders get points by correctly sorting their garbage. Through the Alipay app, they can exchange the points for milk, phone cards and other products. The city is asking all of its people to sort their garbage into four groups: wet, recyclable, harmful and dry.
Wet waste is also known as household waste. "They are things you don't want but that pigs can eat," Guangzhou Daily explained. Paper, metal, glass and other things that can be reused are recyclable waste. Harmful waste includes things like medicine batteries and fluorescent bulbs (荧光灯泡).Finally, any waste that's not wet, recyclable or harmful will go in the "dry waste" bin.
Many other Chinese cities are also using this method to sort their garbage. For example, Shenzhen has been sorting its garbage into the same four groups since 2012. Students there also receive waste-sorting guidebooks that they must study.
China is improving its waste-sorting efforts. There is still a long way to go. But it's never too late to learn how to sort your trash properly and protect the environment.
If you don't sort your garbage, all of it will go to a landfill (垃圾填埋场) and be buried together. These landfills can take up large areas of ground that could have been used for planting trees or crops. The electronic waste you throw away, such as batteries, can pollute the soil and groundwater. Other pieces of garbage, like the metal part of a pen, can be used to make other things if they are properly recycled.
