Separation of trash now mandatory in Shanghai

Lin Shuwen said jokingly that the person she contacts most often on instant-messaging app WeChat these days is not her husband or her best friend, but Shanghaifabu, the account of the Shanghai municipal government's information office, where residents learn about trash sorting.

Whenever Lin is unsure about which of the four trash categories - recyclable, hazardous waste, kitchen waste and residual waste - something she needs to discard belongs to, she opens the account, types in the object and receives a definitive answer.

To make trash disposal operations more efficient, China's first city regulation addressing domestic trash sorting and recycling took effect in Shanghai on Monday. Individuals, businesses and organizations in the megacity of 24 million permanent residents now must separate trash into four categories, and residents have had between one to three months to practice.