Residents of Changning District will now have a new way to dispose of their household trash with the launch of an Internet waste-recycling center, the first of its kind in Shanghai, yesterday.

By just logging on to the Website (xjh-waste.com), Changning residents can have their garbage collected from their doorsteps within several hours, sanitation officials revealed.

They can also enjoy the service by dialing a hotline (6234 8790) of the online center, which owns 10 garbage collection stations and 150 waste collection tricycles.

If the New Jinhua Waste Recycling Internet Center does well, the local public sanitation authority plans to expand the service citywide.

Apart from household garbage, such as newspapers and plastic bottles, New Jinhua will also collect secondhand furniture and used household electric appliances.

"Through the online service, we can offer a more convenient and reliable waste recycling system to local residents," said Xue Guangming, president of New Jinhua.

Usually, residents sell their household waste to fly-by-night operators, mostly migrant workers, who often play tricks, like short-changing on the weight, in reclaiming the scrap.

Worse, some operators have no idea about environment protection and just recycle the useful parts while discarding the remaining waste at random, local officials said.

"We have a fixed price and qualified workers, so that fair and environment-friendly waste recy-cling can be ensured," said Xue.

According to Xue, the household garbage will be sent to special sorting centers for further treatment, while secondhand goods will be auctioned.

"Now I can enjoy standardized garbage collection service at any time without leaving home," said a local resident surnamed Wu.

Shanghai generates 2.5 million tons of recyclable waste each year, including 1.15 million tons of steel waste and 700,000 tons of waste paper.

As a result, garbage recycling has been listed as one of the key projects for the city's environment protection, according to the Shanghai Public Sanitation Bureau.

"It's a complete new trial for waste recycling. Quite different from normal routine, the online center is a modern way of doing things," said Xu Mengling, chief of the Shanghai Waste Recycling Association.
(eastday.com July 20, 2003)