People who do not sort their garbage before throwing them out may face a fine of 200 yuan in Beijing. This is based on a new draft law, which has solicited public opinion in the municipality since Oct. 15 this year.

Titled "the Amendment to Daily Waste Regulations in Beijing," the draft law stipulates that the city's daily waste should be divided into four categories, namely, perishable foods, recyclables, hazardous waste and others.

Following the country's most rigorous rubbish sorting laws which took effect in Shanghai on July 1, 2019, the draft law in Beijing was formulated with even more stringent guidelines.

People who fail to sort their trash before throwing them out in designated garbage bins and who insist on doing so without heeding reminders on the spot will be fined between 50 and 200 yuan in Shanghai. However, this same penalty will be fixed at 200 yuan in Beijing.

The two municipalities in China have also managed to control the use of disposable cutlery and utensils in food delivery businesses and hotels.

Restaurants are not allowed to provide disposable chopsticks and spoons if customers do not ask for them. The same applies to hotels, which are expected to place their disposable cutlery out of sight.

Violators will face a penalty ranging between 500 to 5,000 yuan in Shanghai, and most likely 1,000 to 5,000 yuan in Beijing when the law is ratified.

Although the garbage sorting endeavor has gained immense support online, there is still a big concern on how the categorized waste will be handled at landfills.

"I definitely support rubbish-sorting at home, but disapprove of the absence of any necessary follow-ups, such as the use of different trucks to transport the categorized waste and different measures to handle them in landfills," said one of the online users.

"The last thing I want to see is the rubbish, which I meticulously divide at home, is all mixed and dumped together afterwards," said Dr. Lu, another online user.

China's rubbish sorting campaign, which started almost 20 years ago, has involved eight pilot cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. However, it has not been strictly enforced until now.

According to a notification jointly issued by nine authorities, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, 46 major cities in the country will complete the systematic implementation of rubbish sorting by 2020. The next target is for all cities above the prefecture-level to run their own sorting systems by 2025.

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