Beijing government has started to install new sorting facilities at garbage collection centers. Once the facilities are ready for operation, the garbage sorting rate will increase 50 percent for organic waste, while the recycling rate will also go up.
After a new sorting facility started operating at a Chaoyang District garbage collection center, the site’s environment improved substantially.
Zhou Youli, a sanitation worker at the center, says the recycling capabilities there have been greatly enhanced by the new facility. There is no longer any piled-up garbage or smelly slop at the site, especially after food waste has been sorted separately.
According to media reports, there are more than 800 garbage collection sites across Beijing, which were built in the 1980s and 1990s. Around 500 garbage centers have already undergone upgrades, and the remaining sites will be upgraded over the next two years.
Deng Jun, department director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment, talks about the plan.
“By innovating these facilities, garbage can be effectively sorted based on categories. Furthermore, our operations and management will also be carried out in accordance with the classification of garbage.”
In addition to increased recycling capabilities and more effective operations, waste-processing centers are using garbage in innovative ways with sustainable practices that can generate revenue.
At a garbage plant in Fangshan District, discarded clothes are made into “heat covers” for greenhouses, while discarded plastic is turned into biodiesel and T-shirts.
Ma Xiaolan, Chairman of the Beijing Renewable Resources Sorting Center, says the center has made a profit from the garbage.
“We achieved an output value of 320 million yuan from the garbage last year. Also, the daily garbage volume decreased by 2.3 percent. In terms of social impact, we directly or indirectly created 3,000 jobs.”
Garbage is dirty and smelly mainly because of kitchen waste, which easily rots. But when kitchen waste is mixed with other garbage, the recyclable value of the garbage is lost.
According to agricultural specialists, kitchen waste, after sterilization and fermentation, can be made into animal feed and organic fertilizer.
Cao Xiaogang, manager of a kitchen waste-processing plant in Chaoyang District, explains.
“Using organic fertilizer made of kitchen waste instead of using chemical fertilizers allows for the soil to have a better yield with higher organic materials. The products, both in terms of food safety and taste, are of good quality.”
Recent statistics show Beijing produces 17,400 tons of garbage a day, 60 percent being food waste. However, only 15 percent had been sorted, while the remaining 70 percent was simply buried.
