Chongqing - In a country where mobile payments have been popularized, it is a bit of a novelty that parking fees in a big city's community can only be paid in cash. The gatekeeper of this community, an old man with little knowledge of smartphones, will ask you to exchange some cash from a store nearby. But it is this community that does not "keep pace with the times", and was selected as one of the first green demonstration communities in Chongqing in 2021.
Why can the Wanzishan community in Chongqing have that achievement? One of the most important reasons is its excellent work in garbage sorting.
40% of the waste is recycled
Since the waste sorting work in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area was carried out in 2018, the Wanzishan community produced abundant experiences for the administration. Almost 40% of the waste in this community is recycled and exempted from the landfill because they have been sorted out well.
Last year, the Wanzishan community issued a "6+1" garbage sorting and delivery model. The "6" refers to the six garbage bins that can only be dropped at two fixed times in the morning and in the afternoon when the garbage truck arrives. The "1" is the one station for those who missed the drop time. This will help improve the efficiency of garbage transfer and reduce the time garbage stays in people's living places.
Other than the six garbage bins evenly distributed in the community, the smart drop station is in the center of the community all day in operation for residents. There is a community staff to guide residents to proceed with the drop work. (iChongqing / Kenny Dong)
"We have set up garbage sorting service stations in each community to help property enterprises establish a sorting management system and try to make one policy for one community based on their different situations," said Gu Maojia, Director of Renhe Street Garbage Sorting Promotion Office.
Reward residents who sort garbage
In the community of Wanzishan, the policy to encourage residents' participation is to reward their active doing with the help of the smart system. The secrets are the smart sorting cards and QR codes. Residents stick their own QR codes to their garbage bags when they throw them away. As garbage trucks collect, cleaners scan the QR code to identify the residents and add bonus points to their accounts through the big data system. These points can be exchanged for daily necessities such as laundry detergent, salt, and soy sauce.
A lady went downstairs to throw garbage and showed us her QR code pasted on a bag with watermelon peels. After the cleaner collects the garbage and scans the code, residents will receive their bonus points. (iChongqing / Kenny Dong)
"The operation is quite simple. I don't know how to operate it with my mobile phone. I can use my card to scan the trash can and select the type of garbage to drop it. The points will go to my card. If you don't know how to do it, the staff nearby will help you," said Zhang, an old lady who lived in the community. Through the works of over three years, 94.63% of residents from the community's 2,235 households have participated in the garbage classification, according to the community's report.
The intelligent data system also facilitates daily management. Through the system, the staff in charge will know those households with lower points, find out if they had problems carrying them out, and instruct or persuade them, if necessary, door-to-door.
"Other than that, we will post out the name of those who receive the highest points in each quarter as an inspiration for them and others," said Gu.
The bad smell has gone
Walking into the Wanzishan community, the lush vegetation and clean and tidy ground give people a sense of comfort. During the hot summer months, when garbage pollutants and bacteria are most likely to be generated, people in the Wanzishan community do not smell a single odor, which satisfies the residents and facilitates the community's administration.
Wanzishan community is very old, but it has a lot of new signs about garbage classification like this one on every corner. It is a bit surprising that the modern idea of garbage classification prior penetrates such an old community in the city. (iChongqing / Kenny Dong)
"We used to throw garbage downstairs, which smelled bad in summer, but now we throw it at a fixed location, so the environment is much better," said Guo Gangxiu, a female resident.
The improvement of the environment was proved by researchers from the College of Environment and Ecology of Chongqing University. They took garbage samples from the Wanzishan community to detect the density of waste pollution gas. The results showed that after two hours of fermentation, the odor was 87% less concentrated than in some communities without implementing the garbage classification.
"We carry out garbage sorting, not just for the actions of sorting but to improve the living quality of residents, improve the community environment of our residents, and then purify our entire living environment. Only after we take a series of improvement measures based on the needs of residents will the residents actively cooperate, and the living environment becomes better and better, to form a virtuous circle," Gu said.