Hi everyone, I am Lareina and I hope everyone is staying safely at home. Today, I will be sharing with you a recent policy introduced in China last year with regard to categorization and disposal of wastes.

Since China established its new policy on trash-sorting, it has been implemented in larger cities, such as Shenzhen and Shanghai. Authorities promote this policy through online advertisements, public commercials, and propaganda.

In fact, just a few months ago, this trash-sorting regulation was also introduced to our neighborhood to category rubbish into four categories. We have to divide the wastes and toss them at scheduled times, which can be hard to adjust at first. 

According to many online surveys and public reactions towards the policy, many residents appear to support the idea of recycling in general but are frustrated by the details.  Recyclables such as plastic must be separated from wet garbage, dry garbage and hazardous waste under the new rules in Shanghai. And companies and organisations which fail to meet the requirements could be fined 50,000-500,000 yuan (US$7,000-70,000), while individual offenders risked a fine of 50-200 yuan since July 1 2019 [2]. 

Source: https://www.economist.com/china/2019/07/06/cheerleaders-and-police-usher-in-a-new-era-of-trash-sorting

To exchange these negative feelings of reluctance for support, the implications of assortment of these wastes should be understood. It reduces time and energy, increases recycling to protect the environment from exploitation of natural resources, reduces contamination and eutrophication, which may eliminate aqua-organisms.

Recently, I have read an article of another reason justifying the behavior of oceanic organisms: consuming plastics that floats on the surface. Rather than the similarity between plastics and jellyfish, these organisms, such as seabirds and sea turtles, are also attracted to the scent of plastics.  

Researchers at UC Davis, noticed that certain chemicals, notably dimethyl sulphide, that are released by micro-organism-colonised plastics, are those which many seabirds sniff to track down food. This chemicals indicates an abundance of the algae and bacteria, and the researchers also found that sea birds which pursue their food in this way are around six times more likely to eat plastic than those which do not [1]. Since sea turtles break the surface periodically and sniff the air when navigating towards their feeding areas, they are likely to be tricked into believing the plastic bottles and bags are edible.

This really broadens my horizon and with increasing awareness of the necessity of trash-sorting, I believe people can become more embracive and understanding.

References:

1. “Plastic Rubbish Smells Good to Turtles.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 12 Mar. 2020, www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/03/12/plastic-rubbish-smells-good-to-turtles.
2. Zuo, Mandy, and Alice Yan. “Shanghai Begins New Waste Sorting Era, as China Eyes Cleaner Image.” South China Morning Post, 16 July 2019, www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3016801/shanghai-begins-new-waste-sorting-era-china-eyes-cleaner-image.