Garbage recycling picks up among students in Chengdu

As for the other students, they influence their families.

So, most of them bring paper boxes from home, ensuring that they are recycled instead of just being thrown away.

While Wang has found success in schools, his efforts are still developing in Chengdu's universities, mainly due to financial reasons. The cost of buying Aobag bags and building collection points for the entire university will be huge.

Interestingly, an environmental protection project known as the Sustainable Urban System Program at Sichuan University hopes that the money they collect from selling recyclable garbage could be used to help poverty-stricken students in the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture of the province.

The university's program stipulates that if all 40,000 students on campus take part in this recycling activity, the money generated could be used to set up a scholarship fund, supporting 70 to 100 students over their nine-year compulsory education, covering primary school and junior middle school.

The team is now working on another plan so that the university can afford the price, says Wang Yueyue, a junior student at Sichuan University, who is also the leader of the project.

Besides students, Aobag is also working with shopping malls in Chengdu.

The supermarket Ito Yokado is expected to open a recycling station at its mall where people can buy Aobag bags and hand in recyclable garbage.

Cleaners at Ito Yokado have already started using such bags for recyclable trash. And they exchange the garbage for money as individual users.

Earlier this year, Aobag launched a branch office in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Speaking about his plans, Wang says: "Effective garbage recycling is the new trend. And as more modern cities develop, the demand for recycling will get stronger."

Zhang Boning contributed to the story.