A garbage can in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

Huzhou was recently ranked first among cities in Zhejiang in a provincial assessment for the promotion of household garbage sorting in 2020.

The evaluation was conducted by the Zhejiang Provincial Leading Group on Household Waste Classification.

It was the third consecutive year for Huzhou to be rated as an "excellent city" in terms of garbage sorting in the province. In 2019, the city also topped all cities in Zhejiang in the provincial assessment.

Huzhou saw a year-on-year decrease of 4.31 percent in household waste in 2020, the second year in a row that it reported a decline.

A garbage sorting system has been applied to 1,141 residential communities across the city, where residents are required to dispose of garbage at fixed locations and times in a classified manner.

In addition, the city has constructed several smart supervision platforms for household waste and has come up with a plethora of innovative measures to promote garbage sorting. 

For example, residents in Deqing county are able to look up the exact number of garbage trucks in the area and their routes via a mini-program on WeChat, a popular Chinese social media app.

This was made possible after 43 garbage trucks in the county received digital upgrades earlier last year.

The city has also removed old trash bins and asked people to dispose of their garbage at centralized stations. Trucks are then assigned to collect the trash at a fixed time.

Also in the county, a program allowing people to trade recyclable trash for flowers has been launched.