WHILE 90 percent of Shenzhen residents believe sorting recyclables from garbage is good for the environment, more than 80 percent do not sort their garbage at home.
Many residents said that they did not have time to sort and dispose of garbage, yesterday s Southern Metropolis Daily reported, citing a survey conducted by Shenzhen Gongzhongli Commercial Consultant Co. Ltd.
The survey involved 600 residents aged between 18 and 35 in Jingtian, Lianhua Hill and Huaqiangbei in Futian District, Henggang in Longgang District and Longhua in Bao an District.
More than 70 percent of the respondents said they were aware of sorting recyclables but some bins were not marked to indicate what was recyclable and nonrecyclable, particularly in community areas.
Few residents sorted their garbage at home, picking out only objects that could be sold, such as cans and plastic bottles. Most people said they were too busy to sort garbage, according to the survey.
Food waste from restaurants was normally collected and sold to pig farms. The survey found that there was no special process to treat toxic waste, such as batteries and paint drums.
More than 70 percent of those surveyed said the biggest problem was a lack of awareness of environmental protection and hoped the government would become more involved in promoting garbage recycling.
Shenzhen was one of eight Chinese cities chosen in 2000 to pilot garbage recycling. According to a government plan, up to 30 percent of the city s garbage would be recycled by 2010.
(Wang Yuanyuan)
