Implementation Scheme of Shanghai Municipality for Building a Waste Recycling System

I. The Basic Conditions of the City and the Work Foundation for Building a Waste Recycling System

1.The basic conditions of the city

Shanghai is the core city among the cluster of cities in the Yangtze River Delta, an international center for economy, finance, trade, shipping and sci-tech innovation, and a cultural metropolis. At the end of 2022, Shanghai had an administrative area of 6,340.5 square kilometers, including 16 districts; it had a permanent resident population of 24.7589 million, with an urbanization rate of 89.3%.

In 2022 Shanghai's GDP totaled 4.46 trillion yuan, ranking fourth among the world's cities. The residents' per capita disposable income amounted to 70,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.0%, and the residents' per capita consumption expenditure registered 4,6000 yuan. Total retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 1.64 trillion yuan, being top-ranked among the cities nationwide.

Shanghai is endeavoring to build itself into an inspiring ecological city, and the city's eco-environment quality has kept improving. In 2022, excellent and good Air Quality Index (AQI) days reached 87.1% of all days, the average daily concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) recorded 25 micrograms per cubic meter, down 7.4% year on year. The recycling rate of household waste came to 42%, and the comprehensive utilization rate of industrial solid waste to 94.1%.

2. The work foundation for building a waste recycling system

The recycling system for recyclable household wastes has basically taken shape. The city's layout of recyclable waste "sites, stations and yards", and its provision of recycling enterprises can basically meet the needs. At the end of 2022, the city had 15,000 recyclables delivery service sites, 198 transfer stations, and 15 collecting and distributing yards, which collected a daily total of 7,200 tons of recyclables. Through public bidding, all the districts, subdistricts and towns have determined at least one recycling main enterprises, and all 16 districts have introduced the subsidy policies for low-value recyclables to support the sustainable development of recycling main enterprises.

Remarkable achievements in recycling renewable resources. By the end of 2002, Shanghai had filed 6,594 renewable resource recycling enterprises, including 1,510 enterprises that recycle productive scrap metal and 5,444 enterprises that recycle non-productive scrap metal. Shanghai fostered a batch of leading resource recycling enterprises in areas such as waste glass and plastics. In 2022 the city recycled 8.2859 million tons of renewable resources of various kinds.

New heights reached by the remanufacturing industry. 11 remanufacturing enterprises in such fields as auto parts and engineering machinery parts were built in the city, which achieved a total remanufacturing output value of about 4.2 billion yuan in 2022. On this basis, remanufacturing was extended to new fields such as servers, storage devices and numerically-controlled machine tools. Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area was approved by both the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to be a state-level demonstration base for remanufacturing. The Plan for Innovative Industries in Lin-gang Special Area has included the circular economy and green remanufacturing in its list of the 7 clusters of key industries.

Robust growth of the second-hand commodity market. The second-hand e-commerce has developed rapidly, and a group of flagship enterprises has emerged in such areas as second-hand electrical and electronic products, books, luxury goods and garment accessories. Multiple forms of second-hand commodity trading markets such as offline car trunk fairs and community flea markets have been brisk, effectively promoting the re-use of residents' idle articles. The relevant industry associations and key enterprises are actively studying standards and norms for second-hand commodity trading, thus boosting standard and sound development of the second-hand market.

Basically complete policies and systems. Shanghai has published the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Municipal Solid Waste Management, proposed the building of a better recycling system for recyclable waste, and issued a guiding catalogue of recyclable wastes. The city has also revised and implemented the Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Administration of Renewable Resource Recovery, which aims to establish a long-term regular administrative mechanism on building a better recycling system, standardizing the recycling business operation, and improving the measures for guaranteeing recycling. Moreover, Shanghai has released the Guiding Rules of Shanghai Municipality on the Building of a Recycling System for Recyclable Waste (2022 version), specifying the subsidies for recyclables service sites and transfer stations. It has issued the Implementation Opinions on Further Support for Steady Development of the City’s Resource Recycling Industry, and revised and published the Targeted Measures of Shanghai Municipality for Supporting the Development of the Circular Economy and Comprehensive Resource Utilization, to give further support to resource recycling planning, land guarantee and supportive funds.

Shanghai does have a fairly good foundation for the waste recycling work, but in the face of the state’s higher requirements and the citizens' greater expectations, there are still weak links and shortcomings in its work. First, there is not yet sufficient planning and guarantee for recycling facilities, the ability to process and utilize low-value recyclables is inadequate, the facilities at the stations and yards face the risk of future adjustments, and the policies of subsidizing low-value recyclables recycling remain to be implemented or improved. Second, the industry of recycling waste as resources is to be upgraded, as small and medium-sized enterprises constitute the mainstay so far, the sorting and processing technologies and equipment generally depend on traditional techniques, and the upstream and downstream enterprises of the industry chain has not yet achieved concentrated, large-scale and high-value development. Third, the relevant administrative system remains to be perfected, the administrative systems of the producer’s extended responsibilities, promotion of recycled products, green purchase mechanism, and second-hand commodity trading all call for improvement, and the statistical system and calculating methods need to be refined.

II. Overall Requirements

1. The guiding philosophy

By fully implementing the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, Shanghai will focus on the overall goal of building a socialist modern international metropolis with global influence and the task of building itself into an ecological city. It will leverage such means as waste recycling and high-end remanufacturing to promote the city's high-quality development and meet the targets of peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. It will build a waste recycling system characterized by a recycling network, green sorting centers, professional waste recovery, agglomeration of recycling enterprises, multiple trading scenarios, and more brands of Shanghai remanufacturing. It will also raise the levels of sorting, processing and utilizing renewable resources, promote standardized circulation of second-hand commodities, and enhance the capability for remanufacturing old parts. All these measures will increase the efficiency of utilizing the resources of the whole society, thus developing a new model of waste recycling with Shanghai's characteristics.

2. The working principle

Government guidance and market orientation. The supporting policies will be improved, the system of standards will be refined, the government's guiding role will be brought into play to advance the waste recycling work. The initiatives of market entities will be incentivized, and key enterprises that produce, recover, process and utilize wastes and the relevant digital-economy and chain enterprises are encouraged to play a leading role, in a bid to increase the internal motivation for waste recycling.

Smooth-running system and efficient utilization. By leveraging the continuous improvement of the circular system and focusing on cross-regional and inter-industry product utilization links, Shanghai will build orderly and smooth channels for recovering and recycling wastes, and establish and improve the resource recycling system that covers such links as reduced waste at the source, refined classification, efficient utilization, and recycling.

Innovation-driving and standardized development. Innovations in technology, models and administration will be pushed forward, so that innovation can drive the establishment and improvement of the waste recycling system. Supervisory administration of the industry will be strengthened to crack down on illegal acts in waste recycling, and it is also necessary to strictly implement the requirements for environmental pollution prevention and treatment, and create a standardized recycling system.

III. Main Objectives

1. The overall objective

By 2025, a complete waste recycling system will have been built, and the level of resource recycling will be further raised. The three-tier recycling system consisting of "sites, stations and yards" for recyclable household waste will be improved, the recycling service will cover both urban and rural areas, the construction and green development of the collecting and distributing yards will be advanced, and the scale of recycling renewable resources will keep expanding. A system of recovering special wastes such as recyclable delivery packages and waste textiles will be set up step by step. The enterprises of waste processing and utilization will develop through agglomeration, so that the remanufacturing industry can achieve high-quality development, and the remanufacturing of industrial equipment will become basically intelligent and digitalized. The channels and modes of urban and rural residents’ second-hand commodity trading will be diversified, and the trading will be safer and more convenient.

2. The specific targets

Table 1 Targets of building Shanghai into a demonstration city with a waste recycling system

IV. Main Contents

1. Improving the waste recycling network

Construction of a three-tier recycling system consisting of "sites, stations and yards" for recyclable household waste shall be built rapidly, the system of recycling low-value recyclables and bulky waste shall be improved, and the waste recycling work shall become more professional and further IT-supported.

Rational layout of waste recycling stations and sites. In accordance with the principle of facilitating residents' delivery of waste materials and in the light of the different characteristics of the urban and rural areas, waste recycling service sites and transfer stations shall be rationally distributed. For each 500-1,000 urban households and each1,000-1,500 rural households, 1 standard recycling service site for recyclables shall be set up. The layout of recyclables transfer stations shall be improved continuously to increase their capability for temporary storage of recyclables. For each subdistrict or town (township), 1 transfer station shall be set up, and within the area of the city's outer-ring road, 1 transfer station may be jointly set up by several sub-districts. Market-oriented waste recycling enterprises are encouraged to participate in the construction of stations and sites. By 2025, the stations and sites shall have covered all urban and rural areas. (Responsible units: the Municipal Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources,  Commission of Commerce, and all district people’s governments) Efforts shall be made to continuously improve the images, functions and operational management of the service sites and transfer stations, promote standardized, normalized and chain operation, ensure their surroundings are hygienic and tidy. (Responsible entities: the Municipal Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, and all district people’s governments)

Improvement of the collecting and distributing yards. The capability of the collecting and distributing yards for classifying recyclables shall be elevated, more metrical instruments be provided, and statistical administration be reinforced. Efforts shall be made to apply the sorting, selecting, dismantling, cutting, breaking, cleaning and packing equipment and facilities that are efficient and consume less energy, water and materials, and to raise the intelligent level and the energy saving and environmental conservation level of the existing equipment, thus to provide guarantee for recycling the recyclables.  (Responsible units:  the Municipal Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, and all district people’s governments)

More efficient recycling of low-value recyclables and bulky waste. The districts are encouraged to entrust, through such methods as public bidding, recycling main enterprises to conduct professional recycling of low-value recyclables, and support such enterprises to grow larger and stronger. Renewable resource recycling enterprises of various sorts are encouraged to recycle household recyclables. (Responsible units: the Municipal Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, Commission of Commerce, and all district people’s governments) The bulky waste collecting and transporting system shall be improved rapidly, and the administration of the construction of fixed waste storage places, special recovery boxes and temporary delivery sites shall be intensified. Progress shall be made in the publication of the carriers' service information, and explorations shall be made to guide market-oriented collecting and transportation of bulky waste. (Responsible units: the Municipal Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, and all district people’s governments)

Promotion of the professional and large-scale development of waste recycling. Multiple professional recycling main enterprises shall be fostered, the system of the producer's extended responsibilities in production shall be implemented at a faster rate, enterprises producing electro-electrical devices, cars, etc. are encouraged to self-build or build in cooperation with a third party new-type recycling systems including intelligent recycling and automatic recycling, and construct an old-parts recycling system that matches the remanufacturing industry. Enterprises producing iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, textiles, glass, etc. are encouraged to develop a system of integrating recovery, processing and use. Green transformation of express delivery packages is encouraged, and green development projects of the postal express industry shall be completed according to high standards. Sender enterprises are encouraged to give priority to packing that can be re-used and easily recycled, the relevant working mechanism and recycling procedures shall be created and perfected, and the packing materials, especially intact corrugated paper boxes, shall be recovered and re-used. In logistics, cooperation among e-commerce takeaway platforms, sender enterprises and network terminals is encouraged, so as to extend the professional recycling business in such new products as recyclable delivery packages and such new forms as "reverse logistics". By 2025, the amount of key wastes recovered shall have been further increased, and a group of waste recycling enterprises shall have been cultivated. (Responsible units: the Municipal Commission of Commerce, Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Postal Administration, Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, and Development and Reform Commission)

Stronger IT support for the waste recycling industry. Support will be provided for the construction of renewable resource recycling platforms, so as to form a development model that integrates recycling platforms built by enterprises themselves, public service platforms, and market-oriented e-commerce platforms, thus vigorously increasing the number platform recycling traders. More intelligent recycling machines and recycling sites for plastic bottles, waste textiles, etc. shall be provided. The procedures of collecting, sorting, processing, transporting, storing and utilizing renewable resources shall be further digitalized, so as to develop a waste recycling chain that can be traced, verified and controlled. (Responsible unit: the Municipal Commission of Commerce) Administrative and commercial platforms for the scrap steel industry shall be set up, and a high-level renewable resource trading center be established step by step. (Responsible unit: the Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology) In the course of bidding and administration of main enterprises of recycling household recyclables in various districts, new and existing main enterprises shall be guided to establish an informatized system that can be verified and traced. The main enterprises shall be guided to input the real-time data of their informatized systems into the municipal household-waste whole-process classification information platform. By 2025, 100% of the data of the main enterprises shall have been input into the aforesaid municipal platform. (Responsible units: the Municipal Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, and all district people’s governments)

2. Improving the renewable resource processing and utilization

A "4+X" renewable resource recycling system involving various sectors shall be created, high-level resource recycling bases be constructed, the development of resource recycling enterprises be supported, the channels for waste recycling in the Yangtze River Delta be unblocked, and the technological level and industry capacity for renewable resource recycling be elevated continuously.

Construction of four major bases for resource recycling. The four major resource recycling bases of Laogang, Baoshan, Hangzhou Gulf Northern Shore and Lin-gang shall be established. Aiming at domestically and internationally advanced levels, Laogang eco-environmental protection base shall be constructed, projects for recycling low-value recyclables such as old textiles and waste plastics be launched, and the key guarantee abilities for waste processing and utilization be developed. The production chain of iron and steel enterprises to recycle scarp iron and steel and non-ferrous metals shall be expanded, and a demonstration project of integrating scrap dismantling, processing and distribution be launched. The capacity of Hangzhou Gulf Northern Shore for using innovative technology to process organic wastes like waste plastics shall be elevated. Attention will be focused on the construction of Lin-gang state remanufacturing demonstration base, with priorities on developing the remanufacturing of auto parts, aero-engines, shield tunneling machines, marine machinery, medical instruments, precision instruments, etc., expanding the remanufacturing scales of auto parts, mechanical and electrical products, etc., and the state-level green remanufacturing  innovative demonstration zone and the high-end intelligent remanufacturing innovative demonstration zone  that serves the Belt and Road Initiative shall be built. (Responsible units:  the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Commission of Commerce, Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Chengtou Group, Baowu Steel Group, Shanghai Chemical Industry Park Administrative Committee, and Lin-gang Special Area Administrative Committee)

Support for the stable and high-quality development of resource recycling enterprises. Where the Pudong New Area, the districts of Minhang, Baoshan, Jiading, Songjiang, Qingpu, Fengxian, Jinshan and Chongming, and Lin-gang Special Area have industrial land, they shall devote 1% of their planned industrial land to develop resource recycling enterprises. Administrative work of evaluating and tracing resource recycling enterprises shall be conducted, and newly established resource recycling enterprises shall reach the level of guiding demonstration in terms of environment-conserving emissions, energy consumption, and product functions. (Responsible units: the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Bureau of Ecology and Environment, and relevant district people’s governments)

Smooth channels for waste recycling in the Yangtze River Delta. Synergetic efforts in the Yangtze River Delta shall be stepped up to lay a solid foundation for regional cooperation, and explore the creation of a platform for inter-connectivity among Delta enterprises of renewable resource recycling and terminal resource utilization. Overall planning shall be made for the resources in the Delta, and the upstream and downstream industries of the waste recycling industry chain shall be connected, so as to boost joint development and sharing of the waste processing and utilization capacities in the Delta.  (Responsible units: the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Commission of Commerce, Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, and Bureau of Ecology and Environment)

Higher-level processing and utilization of renewable resources. The norms on the waste comprehensive utilization industry provided by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shall be adopted to push forward higher-quality renovation of the processing and utilization facilities for the existing renewable resources, conduct technological upgrading and equipment updating, and make the recycling more mechanized, informatized and intelligent. Demonstrations of advanced dismantling and utilization technologies for scraped cars, waste electronic and electrical products, used power battery, etc. shall be promoted, and the resource recycling equipment industry be developed. Enterprises, universities and research institutes of this Municipality are promoted to conduct technological research on high-level and efficient use of various recyclables such as paper, plastics, metals and textiles so as to raise the level of renewable resource utilization technology. (Responsible units: the Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Commission of Commerce, and Science and Technology Commission)

3. Promoting well-ordered development of second-hand commodity trading

Building of second-hand commodity online trading platforms and offline markets shall be supported, and diversified second-hand commodity trading channels be fostered. The administrative system for second-hand commodity trading shall be improved to drive standard and orderly development of second-hand commodity trading.

Diversification of the channels for second-hand commodity trading. The mode of "Internet + second hand" is encouraged to promote the standard development of second-hand commodity online trading platforms and the integrated development of second-hand commodity recovery and purchase platforms. Offline entities engaged in second-hand market development and operation are supported, and diversified offline scenarios are to be cultivated rapidly, with a view to increasing the accessibility of second-hand trading.  Offline second-hand commodity trading channels such as flea markets and car trunk fairs are supported for their development, and the various districts shall ensure provision of second-hand trading premises by using their shopping malls, idle factory buildings, public space, etc. and provide no less than two concentrated large flea markets for each million residents. Where conditions permit, a district may build concentrated and standard trading markets and special trading areas for second-hand commodities such as vehicles, electric home appliances, phones, furniture and garment. (Responsible units: the Municipal Commission of Commerce, and all district people's governments) In the course of building low-carbon communities, support shall be given to such communities that are equipped with second-hand commodity consignment shops and agencies, and  that organize second-hand commodity trading activities regularly, thus promoting the trading and circulation of the residents’ idle articles. During the graduation season and other periods, schools at various levels shall organize activities of re-using and exchanging idle clothes, books and other articles, and enhance students and teachers' awareness of resource recycling. (Responsible units: All district people’s governments, and the Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Education Commission, and Commission of Commerce)

Improvement of the administrative system for second-hand commodity trading. In accordance with the state requirements, the rules on second-hand commodity trading shall be implemented, and the rights and obligations of relevant market entities be clarified. Building of a second-hand commodity trading credit system shall be promoted, and sharing of the credit information of the platforms, sellers and employees be expanded. Professional agencies and industry associations shall, jointly with flagship enterprises and platforms, formulate relevant service standards on the circulation and authentication, evaluation and classification, disinfection and cleaning, and renovation of second-hand commodities, standardize the circulation order and trading of second-hand commodities, and reinforce market supervision and law-enforcement inspection of the second-hand commodities market. In the fields of second-hand vehicles, electronic products, etc., authoritative assessing and evaluating agencies shall be fostered, the number of specialists of the second-hand commodity assessment industry be increased, and a mechanism of cultivating and managing such specialists be created. Studies shall be made on formulating standards and norms for deletion of electronic product information. (Responsible entities: the Municipal Commission of Commerce and Market Regulation Administration)

V. A list of key projects and their targets in building of a recycling system

Table 2 A list of projects for building Shanghai into a demonstration city with a waste recycling system

VI. Policy Guarantee

1. Doing more to guarantee land supply

Formulation of development plans for the renewable resource recycling industry. The classifying and collecting facilities such as household-recyclables transfer stations and collecting and distributing yards shall be incorporated into the special municipal plan for the city’s environmental sanitation facilities, and be guaranteed as the city’s basic facilities. Such facilities may be set up synchronously with the environmental sanitation facilities so as to achieve intensive land use and composite function use. When the districts draw up special plans and controlling detailed plans, they shall guarantee the establishment of the relevant basic facilities. In the case of a project with the participation of non-governmental funds, the operating enterprise that the government has selected by methods such as bidding may conduct the construction in the form of land leasing. More support shall be given to the resource recycling bases and second-hand commodity trading markets in land use. In an industrial park engaged in production, 1% of its planned land for industrial use shall be devoted to the development of resource recycling enterprises. (Responsible units:  the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, Commission of Commerce, and all district people’s governments)

2. Promoting separate targets for energy saving and emission reduction

In the case of a newly-established resource recycling enterprise recognized by the municipal coordination mechanism, its cap energy consumption and pollution emissions will be determined by this Municipality, and are no longer indicators for assessing the district. In the case of a newly-added resource recycling project within the planned circular-economy industrial park or planned industrial use land in a district, the quota for its construction land and the balance quota for the compensation for its occupied arable land will be included in the overall plan of this Municipality after the recognition of the municipal coordination mechanism. (Responsible units: the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, and Commission of Commerce)

3. Increasing support by the investment, fiscal, tax and financial policies

Fiscal fund support will be increased, and good and full use must be made of the special municipal policy for circular-economy development and resource recycling, and the projects of building a waste recycling system will be included in the fiscal support. The subsidy policies for low-value recyclables in various districts will be refined, and explorations will be made of a differentiated subsidy policy for low-value recyclables such as foamed plastics and glass. A study of the municipal support policies will be conducted to upgrade the functions of the "site, stations and yards". The catalogue of recycled products from waste recycling shall be formulated gradually, and the system of green government procurement be improved to give priority to purchasing recycled products and increasing the purchasing quantities. Preferential policies of value added tax and corporate income tax to support resource comprehensive use shall be implemented in accordance with law. Financial institutions are encouraged to increase their investment and financing for waste recycling enterprises and key projects, and non-governmental funds of various sorts are encouraged to participate in waste recycling.  (Responsible units: the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Finance Bureau, Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau, Commission of Commerce, and Financial Regulatory Bureau)

4. Stepping up supervisory administration of the industry

Renewable resource recycling operators shall be filed, and supervision of unfiled recycling enterprises be stepped up. Administration shall be strengthened on the norms for the industry of recycling waste materials including scrap iron and steel, scrap no-ferrous metals, waste plastics, waste paper, discarded phones, and used power battery. Environment-polluting enterprises shall be investigated and punished according to law, environmental supervision be tightened over renewable resource recycling enterprises, and control and standard handling of the sources of pollutants such as waste water and gas be strengthened. Hard crackdowns shall be launched on acts of illegally dismantling scrapped vehicles and discarded electrical and electronic products as well as on illegal and rule-violating acts such as illegal transactions, counterfeit and shoddy goods, and fraud in renewable resource recovery and second-hand commodity trading. Oversight on information safety in trading of second-hand electronic products such as computers, telecommunications devices, and consumption devices shall be strengthened to guard against leakage of consumers’ information and malicious restoration of deleted information (Responsible units:  the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Commission of Commerce, Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Market Regulation Administration, and Public Security Bureau)

5. Refining the statistical system and the standards and norms

The state statistical system for waste recycling shall be implemented as required to lay a solid foundation for the basic data on waste materials. The state system of contacting key enterprises of renewable resource recycling shall be carried out, and the requirements for the relevant work be met, so as to learn the status quo and developmental trends of the recycling industry. In such important areas as low-value recyclables, second-hand commodity trading, and remanufacturing, a series of guiding standards and norms shall be studied and formulated. Relevant social organizations and enterprises are encouraged to conduct research on the standards for recycled and remanufactured products, take an active part in revising and formulating relevant state and industry standards, formulate and implement organizational standards and enterprise standards, and push forward the accreditation of remanufactured products. (Responsible units:  the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau,  Commission of Commerce, Bureau of Statistics, and Market Regulation Administration)

VII. Organizing for Implementation

1. Strengthening the organizing and leadership

The Municipal Development and Reform Commission shall, jointly with the relevant municipal departments and units, create a coordination mechanism for establishing a waste recycling system, whose annual work shall be included in the priority tasks of peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality as well as energy conservation and emission reduction. This Municipality’s overall administration of the districts shall be strengthened, and it shall divide the annual task for the districts to fulfill their respective tasks, and include their fulfillment of the tasks in its annual evaluation of their work of peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality as well as energy conservation and emission reduction. This Municipality may incorporate the requirements for recyclables administration into its system of comprehensively evaluating household waste classification effects, and take the building of a waste recycling network as one of the conditions for building green tourism and catering industries, green schools and green communities. Exchanges and mutual learning shall be increased, and work news and landmark accomplishments at the municipal and district levels shall be gathered and summarized to produce brief work reports.

2. Strengthening publicity and guidance

In publicity activities such as the Energy Conservation Week, the National Low-carbon Day and the World Environment Day, the philosophy of waste recycling, idle article trading, and eco-friendly consumption shall be promoted, the experience and models of trials and demonstrations in waste recycling be summarized and widely applied, and the public awareness of recycled and remanufactured produces be enhanced, in order to create a congenial atmosphere for waste recycling. Social organizations of various types are encouraged to actively participate in second-hand market activities organized by communities, schools and enterprises, and adopt eco-friendly ways of life. Exchanges and cooperation in the technology and administration of classified waste recovery and recycling in the Yangtze River Delta shall be strengthened.

This Implementation Scheme shall be effective as of October 11, 2023, and valid until December 31, 2025.