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Beijing residents might be asked to separate only their kitchen garbage for now before being asked to classify all their household waste, experts said.
Six hundred communities in the Chinese capital adopted a pilot program for garbage classification in 2012. The municipal government hopes the program can reach 60 percent of residents this year, according to a government work report.
Wang Weiping, a deputy to the Beijing People's Congress, the city's legislature, said teaching residents the classification system is important but reaching the government's goal of 60 percent coverage will be difficult.
Wang, also an expert in rubbish disposal at the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment, suggested phasing in the classification eventually, from a simple one to one more complex.
"Every resident has different knowledge about the classifications, so we can't ask them to be able to deal with garbage under a more detailed standard," he said.
"It's not the time to do specific classifications. Instead, what we have to do is to separate moist garbage from dry garbage," he said.
Ren Lianhai, a professor at Beijing Technology and Business University's environmental science and engineering department, agreed with Wang, saying the most feasible way of sorting garbage is isolating kitchen garbage from the rest.
"It's not practical to come up with a detailed waste classification system as complex as that in Japan, as Beijing is not yet prepared in terms of its facilities and public awareness," he said.
"However, distinguishing kitchen waste, which contains a lot of moisture and humidity, will make the follow-up garbage treatment easier."
Chen Liwen, a researcher with Green Beagle, an environmental protection NGO in the city, echoed those sentiments.
"Refining classification of waste is not the most outstanding issue in dealing with garbage, as the city's thousands of junkmen are already classifying garbage into various categories," she said. "It is not practical either, considering the facilities and people's awareness."
However, for the individual household, it is not a big deal and does not take much effort to separate kitchen waste from others, which by itself helps deal with and recycle the garbage afterwards, she said.
In addition, Wang said the waste should be transported and burned in line with its categories.
"Garbage classification will become meaningful and effective only if the work that comes after is carried out. After all, it's a system," Wang added.
Wang Yaqin, 56, a resident in Moshikou Nanli Community in Beijing's Shijingshan district, supported the garbage classification project, but she said residents have little awareness of the classification methods.
"Usually I will make a simple classification at home. But sometimes it becomes useless when I find few people doing the same thing," she said.
Information about the garbage classification method should be clearer to people, and the government should pay more attention to educating residents, Wang Weiping said on Thursday.
New plants planned
Beijing will set up five new garbage incineration plants by the end of 2015 to ensure more than 70 percent of the city's waste can be destroyed by burning, Wang said.
The city now has two incineration plants. The total handling capacity of garbage incineration in the city now is 16,900 tons a day.
"All the plants with the most advanced technology around the world are established in rural areas, and will produce a minimum of pollution," he said. "The establishment in remote places also aims to reduce conflicts with residents."
Ren said garbage incineration is so far the best way to deal with waste. "The public resisted the idea because they are worried about the pollution," he said.
Contact the writers at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn and zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn
Jin Haixing contributed to this story.
