Getting garbage sorted

As early as 2000, eight cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, began piloting garbage sorting.

However progress has been rather slow. A recent survey in Guangzhou found that only 9 percent of residents sort their garbage, with some online wag suggesting "the only difference is now we have garbage bins of various colors".

But changing people's behavior is difficult and needs prompting. To ensure people get into the habit of sorting their garbage, the government needs to play a bigger role and establish a punishment and reward system, says a column in Shanghai Morning Post.