Rollout of urban waste sorting still challenging

Despite standout success in a few major cities, China's national garbage-sorting campaign is still in its infancy in many other cities, with the practice yet to take hold among many residents, according to a report by the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs.

The conclusion draws on data from an initiative the NGO launched five years ago, with support from the Vanke Foundation, that uses photo and video uploads to foster public oversight and participation in urban waste management.

The organization also developed a garbage sorting index to evaluate the performance of different cities in promoting waste classification.

To date, the NGO has collected 260,000 pieces of data. The assessment of the data shows that China's urban waste-sorting efforts have evolved from experimental trials into an increasingly systematic framework, the report said.

This progress is marked by world-class garbage-sorting systems in leading cities like Suzhou and Shanghai, it noted. However, key challenges remain, notably uneven implementation across regions and the low recovery rates of less valuable recyclables.

The report ranked Suzhou in Jiangsu province first in waste sorting for 2025 with a score of 95.74, followed by Shanghai at 83.98.

However, it revealed significant regional disparities. The average score across 41 key cities was 29.54, while other cities averaged only 10.56. This contributed to an overall national average of just 18.04 across all 104 cities assessed.

"This indicates that while a few cities are now global pioneers in garbage sorting, most are still in the early phases. A habit of self-directed sorting is far from established," said Ma Jun, head of the NGO.

China began piloting garbage sorting in 2000 in eight cities. Then, in 2017, the country implemented mandatory waste classification in 46 key cities.

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, 92.6 percent of residential communities in cities at or above prefecture-level have been equipped with garbage-sorting facilities.

Meanwhile, the 46 key cities have taken the lead in establishing comprehensive systems for the classification, collection, transportation, and treatment of waste.

According to data from the IPE initiative, over 100 cities have successfully implemented segregated waste collection, transportation, and disposal systems. This approach effectively prevents the practice of mixing already-sorted waste during removal from residential communities.

The report also noted, however, that the implementation of waste classification is still grappling with operational hurdles.

In some residential communities, for instance, the absence of critical measures, such as replacing scattered bins with centralized, time-scheduled collection points, has led to inadequate garbage sorting due to poor oversight and guidance, the report said. This gap necessitates costly secondary sorting, thereby eroding public trust in the waste-classification policy.

It further noted that the recycling of low-value recyclables remains heavily dependent on government subsidies, as a market-driven mechanism has yet to be fully established.

Yang Pingjian, a researcher at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, said the practices in Shanghai and Suzhou demonstrate that "Chinese cities are fully capable of establishing a complete waste classification system".

He called for refining relevant institutions, leveraging market-based innovations, and enhancing multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure waste classification is seamlessly embedded in all social operations.

houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn