Recently Taicang launched a domestic waste sorting project. About 46 waste-sorting rooms were established in five pilot communities, including Shijieyuan community, Mingdu Huayuan community, Donglin Jiayuan community, Century Plaza and Baolong City Square. All the families are expected to sort their domestic waste into trash bags.

There are three kinds of plastic garbage cans. The red ones are for poisonous and harmful waste that will be separately collected, transported, stored and disposed according to technical requirements by the Environmental Protection Administration. The yellow ones are for un-recyclable waste, which will be carried to a waste incineration power plant by the Taicang sanitation department. The green ones are for recyclable waste, which will be cleared away by a renewable resources company under command of the Taicang supply and marketing headquarters.

While giving out trash bags, seven supervisors and 50 volunteers publicized the importance of waste sorting, offering directions or tips and collecting feedback.

At present, Taicang residents produce an average of nearly 800 tons of domestic waste per day at a growth rate of 10 percent annually. Most garbage is burned to generate electricity. The classification of garbage will reduce the waste of resources and protect the environment. It is estimated that un-recyclable waste will decrease by 10 to 15 percent if every family sorts their waste in Taicang.