Focus on Arts and Ecology

May 31 - June 6. 2019

On Monday, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech on waste sorting, emphasising the importance of educating the public to form good habits. Since December 2016, Xi has been pursuing the idea of “universally implementing the waste classification system.” He has made several field visits to grassroots operations. Starting this year, solid waste sorting at the prefecture level and above will be started in all cities in China.

In addition to Shanghai, which has introduced mandatory rules and regulations, Beijing has recently introduced a tough policy. According to Xinhua, Beijing will promote compulsory sorting of garbage in public institutions such as schools, hospitals, commercial office buildings, tourist attractions and hotels, and gradually achieve city-wide coverage. The social credit score of people responsible for classifying and managing domestic waste, both in institutions and at home, will be affected by violating the regulations. Specific rules for implementing the policy have not yet been formulated.

For more on China’s waste management, see chinadialogue’s recent story on community waste separation pilots in Beijing.